In the current economic climate, many businesses are restructuring or dealing with complex change management projects. Often, they lack the skills or resources in house to handle these projects, and one of the ways in which some companies are dealing with these challenges is to deploy interim managers. It is a misconception that interim managers are the preserve of large companies only – smaller companies sometimes use them on a part time basis.

What are interim managers?

Interim Managers are skilled individuals who can bring specific experience to an organisation for a set period of time. They often have a proven reputation for implementation and will be expected to deliver results from day one. They work on a daily rate so their costs can be carefully managed by companies hiring them and they come without the overheads associated with recruiting a permanent employee – there is no holiday pay, sick pay or pension.

Briefing and integration

But, there are several considerations that a company should make before hiring an interim. Firstly, it is important that they can provide a detailed brief of the job role with clear goals laid out, set deliverables, timescales and expectations, so the individual knows exactly what they have to deliver from day one. Often when interim assignments go wrong they can be traced back to the initial briefing stages.

Another consideration is how the interim manager will integrate into the organisation’s structure and work within teams and also how they will hand over their work once the assignment is completed. Interims are generally hired because they have knowledge and skills that are missing within an organisation, so businesses should set up processes to ensure some of this knowledge and skills can be transferred to internal staff before the interim manager leaves.

Interims aren’t shrinking violets either – often they are there to deliver major change processes, make tough decisions and bring to the table an objective perspective and solutions that might not be received well by everyone in an organisation.

The right environment

Interims can offer businesses a flexible, experienced and immediate resource that can help them address their most complex challenges. But businesses need to ensure first that they set up the right environment and put processes in place that will ensure the project is successful and delivers lasting value.

(Courtesy The People Bulletin)
For a selection of Interim Managers click here.