When to Seek Fractional Expertise for Your F&B Company

While working from home, contracting, and freelancing have become commonplace since the pandemic,  hiring dependable, experienced staff is as challenging and time-consuming as ever.  This is backed up by a 2023 Manpower study that indicates 77% of firms surveyed are struggling to fill open roles.

What if you could hire experienced talent to cover the precise gaps in your team’s expertise or to get a tricky project over the line? Fractional expertise can help you achieve specific goals without the commitment of time and resources that comes with hiring a full time employee.

Below, we’ll explore what we mean by fractional talent and look at the top five signs that your company would benefit from a fractional expert.

What is a Fractional Expert?

A fractional expert is a professional who provides specialized expertise to a company on a part-time or temporary basis. Instead of committing to a full-time hire, companies can leverage these experts to fill temporary skills gaps or urgent needs, tapping into high-quality skills at a fraction of the cost.

Fractional experts help businesses access decades of expertise faster than a traditional recruitment process and without paying a high salary with benefits for years – helping to bridge talent gaps and provide crucial insights in key areas right where they’re needed.

5 Signs Your Business Needs a Fractional Expert

If you’re looking for alternatives to traditional hires, fractional expertise could well be a cost-efficient solution. Here are  five signs to look for that indicate a fractional expert could be the right choice for your F&B company.‍

1. Your Budget is on the Chopping Block

When budgets are tight, cuts tend to be made to areas of the business not seen as mission-critical making it vital to invest your dollars efficiently and effectively.

Fractional expertise comes at a price of course, but you only pay for what you need to complete a specific initiative and get high-level expertise without committing to years of salary and benefits.

2. You’re Stretching Existing Resources Too Thin

When your team members are overstretched and have to work outside their wheelhouse, you’re probably not getting the best out of them. Fractional experts can plug gaps with specific expertise to free up the rest of your team to work on what they’re best at. What’s more, these seasoned professionals come with a wealth of experience that can serendipitously benefit your team.

3. You Would Benefit From Fresh Innovative Thinking  

Even best-laid plans come up against unforeseen challenges and creative roadblocks. Often you can find a way around and leverage your existing team to find a solution, but if you find yourself in unknown territory, a fractional expert can bring a fresh perspective and innovative thinking to help move things forward.

A recent report by business consultancy Korn Ferry recommends a 70/30 split between permanent staff and fractional hires to drive innovation in an organization.

A fractional hire can give you the exact knowledge and experience you need to solve a specific problem when it arises. And when you source your hire with JPG Resources, you get access to the collective knowledge of the whole JPG team.

If you're venturing into new territories or unsure about the next strategic move, a fractional expert can provide clarity, direction, and experience to refine your existing strategies.

4. You’re Experiencing High Growth

When you’re growing fast, it’s an exciting time for everyone involved. But it can also be challenging to recruit fast enough to cover the increased workload. . Often, by the time you’ve started a search, interviewed candidates, and chosen a new hire, the organization has outgrown the need once again, or pivoted in a new direction.  What’s more, as you grow, revenue doesn’t always match the new level of experience required.

Fractional talent offers fast, specific skills to plug gaps as soon as they arise. This doesn’t mean you stop hirings, but as you grow, fractional experts can bridge gaps and provide exceptional value while you onboard your next long-term hire.

5. You Need More Flexibility

When your company is exploring different business models or testing new  strategies, it’s difficult to know exactly the teams you’ll need a year or two from now. Similarly, if you are seeking investment but it is not yet guaranteed, you need to be able to adapt to the unknown as it comes into view.

Fractional talent is a solid temporary solution to these uncertain situations. You can bring in an expert to help you gain that funding or explore a new path while remaining flexible and resilient. Once you know the outcome, you can decide whether to bring in a full-time team member or continue without.

Confidently Hire the Talent You Need

Fractional hires can help you bring a fresh perspective to a problem and push projects over the finish line. Quick access to top talent allows you to remain flexible and agile, but as with any recruitment process, finding the top talent is half the battle.

JPG Resources already  has the best in the business and will match you with the right expert for your specific needs. As an established F&B strategy and execution firm, we have experience at every stage of a company’s growth. We support our talent and our clients until the job is done and any fractional hire we source is backed up by our entire team.

Our new talent sourcing service helps you find the best fractional talent to fill your capacity and skills gaps quickly.

Click here to find out more about JPG Talent.