Interim Management - The past, present and future

Increasingly, companies in the UK are now using the services of Interim Management companies to provide their businesses with 'best practice'. By using the experience of an interim manager, companies can become leaner and fitter in a shorter period of time.

Somebody once said that there will be more change in the next five years than there has been during the past 50 and against a background of a volatile global economy and a massive slowdown in business globalisation, it's not hard to agree.

Change is good in many instances and can provide businesses with the opportunity to explore new directions, enter new markets or open the possibility to merge with a competitor to increase overall market standing. It can, in some cases, even be the key to survival. In fact, most successful enterprises are in a constant state of change - if they are not in transition then they are stagnating.

However, change can also cause major business headaches, especially if there are not enough in-house resources to help facilitate the change process and therefore often requires that the permanent management team needs to be augmented with specialists.

Making sure a business has the right caliber of senior executives with the skills and experience to develop the product or service while at the same time managing the company can be a difficult if not impossible task anyway. As a result, many forward-thinking organisations are now turning towards interim management as the perfect solution to the problem.
Interim management history
While interim management as a recognisable service began in the 1970’s in Netherlands in response to restrictive Dutch labour laws, it only began to gain momentum in the UK a decade later and although the service has developed rapidly during the past few years, its development has not been in the media spotlight. The result is that many organisations and individuals are only now coming across the concept for the first time.

Despite having a low profile, conservative estimates put the current UK spend on IMs at more than £400million per annum, of which in excess of 70% is being spent on the services of individuals networking directly with others. It is estimated an interim manager working in the UK is paid an average of between £500-600 per day and earns over £70K per annum for just six months work.
What is interim management?
Interim management is the temporary provision of additional management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change within a company. In this situation, a permanent role may be unnecessary or impossible to find at short notice. Additionally, there may be nobody internally who is suitable for, or available to take up, the position in question.

Interim Managers are hands-on executives, managers and consultants with substantial experience and a proven track record. And far from being 'has-beens' or 'in between jobs', modern IMs have chosen interim management as a career that offers unequalled challenges and satisfactions.
What do interim managers do?
Interim managers can be used to manage a project or a business change, give additional support to implement a business opportunity, provide support when existing management is absent or fully-stretched, or to simply improve overall business performance. Another crucial benefit is that an interim manager can focus exclusively on the task in hand and can mentor and coach as well as manage unlike many in-house senior executives who have no hidden political agenda.
Interim management jobs
Interim managers were once exclusively used by the larger companies to aid in company turnaround or implement business re-structuring but businesses of all types from both the public and private sector are now exploring the benefits of interim management.

An interim manager can be full time or part time and for as long as you need. They can also perform a wide range of job functions in all industry sectors and often operate as non-executive directors.

In addition, the cost of hiring an interim manager is tangible and only temporary. This makes the 'interim' proposition a very attractive strategy.

In the UK there are now many recruitment companies offering interim management such as Intramezzo and Veredus.
Why use interim managers?
Typical reasons for using an interim manager include:

• Company turnaround and business restructuring e.g. 'Company Doctor
• Introduction of change management
• To bridge a 'gap' to cover for maternity, secondment etc
• To provide additional resources when companies need it most such as through periods of dramatic growth or the building of company infrastructure
• As a 'safe pair of hands' whilst the replacement of a permanent member of staff is sought following their sudden departure
• As a project manager to manage a transition e.g. introduction of new business systems etc.

Not only are interim managers remarkably cost-effective in terms of delivering results to your business but their use can also substantially reduce the traditionally start-up and on-going costs and risk to a business. There are no agency commissions usually payable for finding new staff.

No company cars to supply. No share schemes to manage and no golden handshakes to finance once the IM has successfully fulfilled their role. Interim managers are also totally flexible and they can work full time or part time and their contract can be lengthened to meet the demands of your business with no hidden penalties.

You pay an inclusive fee for an Interim Manager and other than daily travel and accommodation expenses where appropriate, there are no other costs. In addition, you only pay for the days actually worked. This compares favorably on a day to day basis with the cost of a permanent manager, particularly when you take into account the cost of NI, pension, holidays, sickness, contractual costs, PAYE and recruitment costs.
Conclusion
As many businesses are only just now discovering the benefits that interim management can provide, the industry itself has a long way to go in the way it provides a service and the perceived benefits of these services.

However, it's clearly a superb 21st Century management tool and in the current climate of change and uncertainly there has never been a better time to discover what benefits a quality interim management can bring to your business.

Interim managers were once exclusively used by the larger companies to aid in company turnaround or implement business re-structuring but businesses of all types from both the public and private sector are now exploring the benefits of interim management.