Executive-as-a-Service Can Solve Your Leadership Problems Like SaaS Solved Your Outdated Software Problems

For years, companies have used SaaS – Software-as-a-Service – to solve their technology problems. No more buying expensive software. No more hiring experienced managers to oversee its installation. No more worrying about updates. It’s all handled by the pros and the service lives in the cloud, ready for your people to access the minute the need arises.

Now, companies are discovering that EaaS – Executives-as-a-Service – can just as easily solve their c-level executive challenges.

What is Executive-as-a-Service?

Like SaaS, which is subscription-based on-demand access to digitals tools, EaaS is on-demand access to executive leadership, whether you need the skills of a chief financial officer, chief marketing officer, chief operating officer, chief technology officer, or any other type of “chief.”

EaaS allows you to pay only for the c-level expertise you need and only for as long as you need it. No pricey executive search fees. No hiring bonuses No long-term contracts. No human resources expenses. As a cost-effective alternative to onboarding any type of full-time chief executive, the EaaS model means that even small businesses can afford experienced, effective leadership.

Executive-as-a-Service leaders are interim or fractional executives with a wealth of experience managing companies through big challenges such as rapid growth or decline, mergers or acquisitions, new market demands, and dried up funding.

How Can EaaS Help My Company?

How you use an executive service leader depends on the needs of your company. It might be a project-based initiative. Or a change-oriented business strategy that requires fresh insights. Or a market challenge that needs different leadership competencies.

Whatever the need, the Executive-as-a-Service model is the right approach for companies that want much more than consulting services. Under EaaS, you get an executive who has agency with your business, someone who will develop effective business strategies and then stick around to implement them.

Under the EaaS rent-an-executive model, interim executives become a key part of the company’s leadership team, but at a price that is far lower than the cost of bringing on full-time executive management.

Companies can contract with a single EaaS executive, bring on an entire management team, or something in between.

Interim executives can commit to full-time work over a defined period. For example, a chief marketing officer who comes on board for 18 months to launch a new product. Or part-time or fractional executives might come on board over a longer term, but working only a few hours or a few days a week to keep staffing costs low.

What Kind of Company Should Use EaaS?

Because of the inherent flexibility of working with part-time or interim executives, the EaaS model can work well for any industry and any size organization, from early-stage to multi-billion dollar companies. It’s also an option for nonprofit organizations and public service and civil service entities.

InterimExecs RED Team is your on-call Executive-as-a-Service resource. Our hand-picked RED Team (Rapid Executive Deployment) leaders are experienced senior executives with long track records of success. They have filled leadership roles on a full-time or part-time basis when companies:

• Face an unexpected executive vacancy and need a high-impact executive to fill the role while the search for a full-time hire takes place.
• Are upgrading technology or implementing new systems.
• Are putting in place new systems and processes to improve efficiency and profitability.
• Need better financial reporting and controls to prepare for a sale.
• Have agreed to a merger.
• Want to launch a new product, expand market share, or start a new operation.

6 Ways Executive-as-a-Service Can Help

1. Solve Your Leadership Challenges Fast

Hiring a full-time executive with the right experience and interest in your company takes time and money. The Executive-as-a-Service model supplies the right executive on demand. An Interim RED Team member can be on the job, solving your problems, in as little as 48 hours.

2. Create Clear Objectives

The executive-as-a-service approach allows you to define the business outcomes you want. From there, you gain expert advice on how to reach your outcomes and have hands-on help to implement new strategies, all within an agreed-upon budget.

This isn’t guaranteed with a full-time executive hire. Objectives can become murky once someone is entrenched in a business, without a plan in place.

3. Buy Just the Skills You Need

Every business experiences a range of projects, goals, and transitions. You might need an overall reorganization, want to reach a high sales goal, or need help managing a merger.

You can choose an interim or fractional executive with proven expertise and the exact skill set you need.

4. Get More Bang for Your Bucks

Unlike a full-time hire, an interim executive won’t require expensive overhead costs, such as health insurance, time off, equipment, and the high salary of a full-time employee. Plus, their short-term or part-time status helps keep them from getting caught up in the internal politics that bog down decision making. They focus on reaching the specific goals you laid out together.

5. Fresh Perspectives

Executive-as-a-Service resources bring a wide range of industry experience and a fresh perspective to your business, helping you make informed decisions about where to invest, prune, and plan for growth. Because interim executives work on diverse projects, they stay sharp in various industries instead of becoming complacent in one long-term leadership position.

6. Freedom to Make Changes

Unlike a full-time hire, an Executive-as-a-Service leader serves at your pleasure. You can adjust or stop services as needed. For example, an interim Chief Executive Officer brought on board to fill a vacancy while you search for a new full-time CEO can run the business during the search, then transition to mentor the new CEO while he or she gets up to speed.

Executive-as-a-Service is the proven way to hire leadership for your company with flexibility and speed while saving on costs.

Reach out to InterimExecs today to discuss how our rock star interim part-time or fractional executives can help your business.