Written by
July 9, 2024

What Are Fractional Remote Jobs?

The traditional 9-to-5, full-time job is no longer the only career path out there. An emerging trend that’s gaining traction is remote fractional jobs, a concept that’s changing how we think about work and employment. These jobs allow professionals to work remotely on a part-time or project basis for multiple employers simultaneously, offering flexibility and diversity in their career portfolio. But what exactly are these roles, and how do they function for both employees and employers? 

Defining Remote Fractional Jobs

These positions are defined by their part-time or project-based nature, enabling professionals to engage with multiple companies or clients from the comfort of their own homes or any remote location. Essentially, an employer might hire someone to complete a single project such as bringing on a remote bookkeeper to update the entries for the year before tax time. Once that project is done, the employee is paid and then they do not necessarily work for that specific company further.

This flexibility is a departure from the traditional employment model, which typically involves a full-time commitment to a single employer. Remote fractional roles are prevalent across various industries, including marketing, finance, and human resources. Professionals in these fields can lend their expertise to multiple companies, often juggling several projects or roles simultaneously. These positions tend to be contractor roles, which provide many benefits for all parties involved:

Benefits for Employees

For employees, these roles allow for a personalized work schedule, perfect for stay-at-home moms who need to pick their kids up from school or visit different sports practice sessions. A flexible schedule not only nurtures a healthier work-life balance but also empowers employees with the control to pursue personal interests or commitments alongside their careers. It can provide a much needed break and protect employees from burnout of working in a single position for too long.

Remote fractional employment further enriches an employee’s professional journey by exposing them to a variety of industries, projects, and roles. Such exposure is invaluable, as it equips individuals with a broad skill set and diverse experiences, making them more marketable in the competitive job landscape. The ability to apply one’s expertise across different contexts not only fosters professional growth but also keeps the work experience stimulating and intellectually rewarding. For example, as a marketer you may help one company manage their social media accounts, but then you might help another company run PPC ads on Google. Oftentimes traditional roles pigeonhole talent so that a person would only run social media or only manage ads but never overlap; fractional work allows employees to branch out and expand their skill set. 

Additionally, working with so many different companies encourages employees to cultivate a network of professional contacts across multiple sectors, enhancing their visibility in the broader job market. Through these diverse engagements, individuals can also identify areas of interest or specialization they may want to pursue further.

Benefits for Employers

For employers, embracing remote fractional work can save time and money. This model allows businesses to engage with experts in specific fields on an as-needed basis, avoiding expenses associated with full-time hires such as salaries and health benefits. This cost-effective approach is especially beneficial for small businesses that operate on tight budgets yet require specialized skills to drive their business forward. For example, a company can hire a virtual assistant to clean up its task list and create a schedule, and once that work is done, the company can pivot to focus on something else.

Another key benefit for employers is the ability to tap into a large talent pool for remote work. Companies can scout for the best talent regardless of where they reside. This wider reach not only increases the chances of finding the perfect fit for project-based or part-time roles but also enhances the diversity of the workforce, bringing fresh perspectives and innovation into the business.

Additionally, this kind of employment allows companies to be flexible so they can scale their workforce up or down based on current business needs. By leveraging remote fractional jobs, employers can quickly respond to new opportunities or shifts in demand without the logistical and financial burdens of traditional employment models. For example, as new social media platforms are created, companies can use fractional jobs to pivot away from an older form of social media such as Facebook to a newer form such as Tiktok.

At the end of the day, fractional remote jobs boil down to specific projects. Companies hire experts to work on the projects, and once done both parties go their separate ways. This helps companies financially, and this empowers employees to choose projects they like while also allowing them to create their own schedules.

 

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Written by
December 12, 2022

Setting Professional Boundaries: How to Keep Work and Life in Balance

As an entrepreneur, you’re likely juggling more tasks and projects than most people can handle at one time. Even if you’re not a self-employed person, though, odds are good that you have to meet some deadlines or other obligations every day. Keeping up with all of these tasks while maintaining your health and well-being can be difficult if you don’t set boundaries between your personal and work lives. While it’s important to be flexible and accommodating in your working relationships, it’s equally important to be able to step away from work when it’s time to do so. However, it can be daunting to set these boundaries up front — the sooner you set them, the better! Keep reading to learn when to set boundaries and how to update them as needed.

Set Working Hour Expectations

We recommend setting working hour expectations up front whether that’s during the interview process for a full time remote job or a first time meeting with a potential client as a freelancer. Many employers/clients may say they offer flexible working hours. It is important that you ask what their definition of flexible means — we have seen expectations on both employer and employee sides be very different. For example, an employee may hear flexible and think they can quite literally work whenever, so long as they meet deadlines. However, employers may mean that their workers can start a few minutes later or leave a few minutes earlier within a traditional work day.

It’s also important to establish time off too! If every year you take off spring break to take a trip with your kiddos, be up front about that from the start. Employers may offer unlimited time off, but that may mean only a couple days in a week and not an entirely full week. Communication is key here, and it’s best to always ask both parties to define what they want in the working relationship. This is where you are able to establish important boundaries — as well as the communication channel to update those boundaries as needed.

Don’t Be Afraid to Set New Boundaries

Using our example from above, perhaps you started working with a company that stated they offered “flexible” schedules. However, as you started working together, you realized they expected you to work when they did, with flexible applying more to their schedule than yours (yes, we have seen this before!). If this is not what you expected, you have every right to speak up for yourself! Politely send a message stating that the hours are not what you thought, and that you would like to have a discussion about working hours with the company.

Work-life balance is incredibly important, and as uncomfortable as it may be, it’s important to stick up for yourself in the workplace! If it wasn’t communicated that an employer thought you would work mostly afternoons but you need mornings because of your children’s schedule, bring that up with your employer and ask to negotiate hours. It really all comes down to communication! A good employer/client relationship will be based on open communication and negotiation.

Create Payment Window Rules

For our freelancers, the number one boundary we see that goes without being established is that of creating firm payment windows with companies. Let’s say you offer Net 30 on your invoices, but your client does not pay in 30 days. You have to keep reminding them, and finally, 10 days later, they pay. But, that does not cover the stress or time it took you to keep track of all that and follow up with them.

Of course, there can be outstanding circumstances that cause a payment to be late every once in a while. However, as a freelancer you rely on your customers to pay in a timely manner. During that first meeting with your client, let them know that after thirty days goes by, you will charge a certain percentage of the invoice or add in a special processing fee for late invoices. You can research online to find good examples of rates/fees for your specific position.

As mentioned above, if you have not established this boundary yet and you find yourself with a client that is consistently paying later and later, it’s okay to establish this boundary later. All you need to do is communicate what the penalty for paying late is and why you have to enact that. Working with your client, you may be able to come up with a different billing system that gets you paid on time without charging extra.

Boundaries are extremely important, so you should establish them up front, but if you don’t it’s okay to go back and let the parties involved know that you were not aware this is how things would be, and they need to change. Just be open about your situation. What are some ways you set boundaries with employers and clients alike? Let us know so we can share your advice with the HireMyMom family!

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