What the Heck is a “Fractional Integrator” Anyway?

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Last month in our February Newsletter, AJC announced that we are offering the NEW service of “Fractional Integrator.”  

What the heck is a Fractional Integrator anyway?

If you’ve read Traction or Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman, you probably have a decent understanding of what an Integrator is.  This is the complement to your Visionary – the person who quickly and intuitively “gets” the big picture Vision of the company and can clearly communicate that to all leaders and team members internally; ensuring they are not only on the bus, but driving in the same direction to effectively execute all the work that needs to be done in order to realize the Vision. 

For example: If your Vision is to be the easiest company with which your tech-savvy customers do business, but you don’t yet have an inventory database system (ERP) or e-commerce option; this may mean researching, negotiating, and implementing the appropriate back-end systems, then following up with tying the system to a front end e-commerce platform that will meet customer expectations for fast and simple transactions. 

Another example: If your Vision is to have a productive workforce where everyone feels they are being fairly treated and knows where they stand in the organization, but you have not yet put in place a straightforward and consistent Performance Management program; this may mean aligning your values into the People Analyzer “Get it, Want it, Capacity to Do it” (GWC), training managers for evaluation, piloting with the leadership team, developing a reasonable review cadence, communicating with team members, and rolling out your regular performance management program across your organization.

(As an aside, the People Analyzer exercise will often have the side consequence of identifying who is not the right fit for your organization’s Accountability Chart.  This can be very painful for everyone, though if separations are done as fairly and empathetically as possible, it will truly leave both the individual(s) and company in a better place in the long run.  It is often helpful to have a Fractional Integrator help you work through this, rather than a full time employee, as will be discussed further below.)

Hopefully these examples help shed light on a role that can be ambiguous to understand concretely.  Below are some generic bullet points that also describe the role.

• Maintain accountability for your Rocks and EOS Implementation
• Facilitate your Pulse meetings (L10s, Quarterly - if no formal Implementer)
• Help design, organize, and effect your Accountability Chart
• Ensure your Scorecard is in place and being tracked with the proper cadence
• Orchestrate the effective implementation of your People Analyzer process
• Generally: Ensure that you EXECUTE to your amazing Vision!

If I were to offer a “steel man” argument to having a Fractional Integrator, it would be that an Integrator sounds like a role that should be a full time employee (FTE).  Shouldn’t this person be in the business every day working with the team and providing leadership and face time?

These are very good points, and the answer (as always) is “It depends.”  A Fractional Integrator, like the fairly common models of Fractional CFO or Fractional CMO or VP of Sales, are likely sufficient to provide the catalyst needed to effect change and maintain accountability.  Additionally, a very good Integrator – someone experienced who is able to walk the fine line between holding team members “hard line” accountable and knowing when to back off and correct course – will likely be expensive and/or hard to find.  Finally, the risks for a “bad hire” are greater in the case of an employee than a contract Fractional position; often the employment agreement will have severance or equity stipulations and the HR aspect will need to be handled differently if the hire does not work out. Terminating a contract is, by comparison, fairly straightforward.

On the other hand, if the business is able to get by until an FTE Integrator is found and interviewed for fit, can afford the salary, needs the HR component of the Integrator’s leadership, as well as really believes the daily face time is very important, then a Fractional Integrator is probably not the right choice.  A potential hybrid model could be to get someone fractionally as interim, even up to full time hours, until the right full-time employee can be selected and trained.

As alluded to above, one final consideration for a Fractional Integrator is in regards to the People Analyzer implementation and ensuring the right people are in the right seats of your Accountability Chart.  Integrators promoted from within may have a challenging time objectively assessing the right roles and fit for where the company is going to meet the Visionary’s desired future state.  And if a new Integrator is hired as an FTE, s/he will likely have direct HR reports, and probably will want to build rapport with his or her new team for the long term.  This may delay pulling the trigger on some very tough “Right Fit” decisions which may need to happen sooner than later.  A Fractional Integrator – not an employee and therefore without HR reports, also by definition “temporary” in some fashion, may find it easier to maintain objectivity in regards to these decisions and help the company and the employees by identifying those needed changes relatively quickly.

If this makes sense to you, and you believe that your business will benefit from a Fractional Integrator, the first step I would recommend is to discuss with your EOS Implementer.  He or she will be able to best advise you and help you find the right Fractional Integrator in your area.  If you do not have an EOS Implementer, be sure to check out the online resources for Integrator searches, and if you are in the Portland, OR area, please feel free to reach out to AJC.

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