I wish I could stake claim to the phrase “fractional hiring,” but I can’t. It is something Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance, shared with me as we chatted on the phone a few weeks ago. The concept is this: Highly skilled labor, who, in the past, was only available as a full time hire or in an extended consultative capacity, is now available for specific, short term tasks and at a moments notice.
Fractional hiring is the great human resources equalizer. It put us, the small business guys, on equal footing as them, the big business guys.
For example, if your small business computer network has a problem processing SQL queries (cough… an exact problem I had with a, cough-cough, not to be mentioned CRM system. cough.), you used to have your in-house IT guy fix it (think big salary) or have an outside consulting firm fix it (think recurring monthly fee or big hourly rate). With fractional hiring, those same, highly skilled technical folks are available on a per instance basis.
A quick query for “SQL technical support” on any of the fractional hiring sites (Elance being my personal defacto choice) immediately finds the right people who are already qualified by other people’s ratings, gives you their pricing, and allows them to remotely connect and get the work done right then and there. SQL problem fixed – fast, fully and cheaply.
This isn’t limited to computer geeks; Lawyers, accountants, CFOs, HR experts, programmers, writers, event coordinators, you name it. Almost any professional service can be rendered this way.
Entrepreneurs can no longer use the excuse of “lack of resources.” You can’t say that you can’t compete because the big guy has the better folks and more of them. Fractional hiring gives you (and me) access to a five star trademark attorney, with the same skill set to the in-house trademark attorneys at Google.
Yeah, sure, Google has more money. But now you have the same accessibility and can actually afford it. I am just hoping someone figures out how to do fractional hiring of a massage therapist. I would love to get a 5 minute neck massage right now.
The post Fractional Hiring appeared first on Mike Michalowicz.
