Interim Management Managing acquisitions Project management Setting up closing down businesses business Crisis Management

Article : Interim Management

There has been a cultural change in attitudes towards interim management helped by rising standards in professionalism and a growing awareness and recognition in industry of what interim management is and the improvements that are achievable by installing an interim manager.

Whilst the cost may seem high the added value is substantially greater.

"The UK market for interim management is estimated to be worth £190m in 2000 and expected to grow to around £420m by 2005."

Interim management is a relatively new industry with great potential for making the most of today's fast-moving business climate. Interim executives and managers cover a wide variety of roles at different levels of expertise and within various technical areas including:

Plugging a gap created by a sudden depature
Managing acquisitions/disposals
Project management
Effecting culture change
Crisis management
Turning around an ailing business
Change management

All too often, however interims are defined by what they are not:

They are not consultants
They are not potential employees
Generally not cheap but highly effective

Before you retain an interim executive you must indentify your need and evaluate the parameters of the task.

Define the nature of the assignment, the key tasks and time-frame.
Consider your management team. Is anyone inhouse suitable for the task.
Examine your motives for choosing an interim manager. What are you trying to achieve that could be best done by an outsider?
Decide the calibre of person you need. Do you need an advisor - in which case you might choose a consultant? Or, do you want someone to run things? An interim should be able to do both.

Expect to meet a strong individual at the interview stage. Don't expect weak people or losers; there is a perception that interim managers are people who have failed in other jobs and this is wrong. The field is tough and only a handful of people who start up maintain a successful career in it - and it is these individuals you should be meeting.

They are unlikely to want a full time job…they've done that and find it more stimulating to encounter a variety of environments and problems. They will be impartial and worthy of being taken into your confidence. They will have the experience to make this confidence worth your while plus the advantage of not being involved in office politics. They are confident operators who can step in at extremely short notice and be up and running and effective almost immediately. They work at or near board level and are given the authority to make changes.

Interim executives are not as expensive as they might appear, compared with consultants and permanent executives. Their fees are far lower than those of consultants at the same level. The cost of a permanent executive, on the other hand - including pension, car, bonuses, holidays - will probably be at least twice his basic salary. And you are not locked into the ongoing costs of a permanent staffer because an interim is for a defined period with no exit penalties.

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