FAQ

A fractional CWO will generally charge a day rate and this will vary based on the level of experience you’re getting. The real benefit is you’ll pay a fraction of the cost compared to the salary of a full-time CWO, but get a significant amount of expertise injected into your business by paying for just a few days a month. Current CWO salaries are around £100,000 at the low-end, up to £250,000 a year – research gives you a wide range, with salaries being highly dependent on experience. When calculating a day rate, you’d usually allow +30% uplift and then divide by 220 days to get a day rate.

Generally no. A fractional CWO is usually someone with subject matter expertise in health and wellbeing. They may well have worked in the healthcare sector as an allied health professional or a nurse or in health system design. Medical Consultants tend to hold Chief Health Officer roles, or VP of health. They are valuable resources for companies and due to their years of training and experience will command a higher salary.

They would typically work for a set number of days a month – 6 to 8 days a month is often enough, depending on the size of the business. You can achieve a lot in a short space of time if you’re really clear on what your goals are. You may want to work this out with your fractional CWO as an initial phase of their engagement.

We find working remotely isn’t a problem for most businesses, but that does need to be considered when you’re finding the right fractional CWO to support you. In a hybrid working world, meeting the team face-to-face is often useful, particularly in the early stages of the engagement, but then following up remotely makes for an efficient use of time.

They’re only in your business for a set number of hours/days a month, so you need to be disciplined on what you get them involved in. Have set objectives and don’t pull them into the day-to-day, so you get the most value out of them. They may not always know the detailed inner workings of your business, so make sure you choose someone who works collaboratively, asks lots of questions and will use the experience of the broader business to help achieve your goals.

Any businesses who are seeking to invest in a sustainable workforce but can’t yet justify a permanent CWO, can benefit from working with a fractional CWO.