Why Interim Management is So Popular

According to the Interim Management Association the use of interims has grown by 93 percent since the pre-recession levels of 2006. The IMA reports that there are approximately 16,000 senior UK interims working at the moment and the sector has become almost a £2bn market. The growing demand for senior interim managers isn’t surprising.

Here are 10 tremendous advantages to using senior interim managers:

1. Focused Expertise

Through interim management a company can access an experienced, senior ‘hands-on’ manager, hand-picked to match their very specific needs. This may be someone with a proven track record working in a particular sector. Or it may be someone who has successfully tackled the issues that the company needs help with, such as establishing an overseas operation, managing a merger or acquisition, handling a corporate turnaround or introducing a major new technology.

2. Where & When Needed

Interim managers are available immediately whereas a permanent employee, by the time they have served their notice period, may take many months to be up and running.

3. Quick Results

Typically hired for 6-9 months, interim managers are adept at walking into often a very challenging situation, where the need is immediate, the timeframe is tight and where they need to make things happen fast.

4. Tenacity

They’re tenacious too – as it takes effort to find a new assignment every 6 months or so!

5. Value for Money

With an interim manager you get a lot of ‘bang for your buck.’  They are usually over-qualified for each assignment, providing an organisation with access to experience and talent which it couldn’t afford on a permanent basis, but which in the short-term will deliver incredible value.

6. Cost

People may think interim management is a more expensive route to go down. However, once bonuses, NI contributions, holidays, pension, health and company car benefits are added to the salary, an executive on £100,000 actually costs more like £175,000.  An interim incurs none of these additional costs.

7. Headcount

Interim management allows a company to boost its team without adding to permanent headcount – a key consideration in some situations.

8. Objectivity

Interim managers are not planning a long- term career in an organisation. So they will not be afraid to be candid – telling the senior team what they need to hear. This also means they stand outside an organisation’s politics. They aren’t caught up by divisional rivalries or differences which can hamper major initiatives or change programmes.

9. Ideal in Times of Change

In today’s fast changing climate, organisations want to be able to quickly respond to opportunities and take big decisions, fast.   With their ability to inject experience as and when it’s needed, interim managers are ideal during such times.

10. Better than Consultants

Lastly some see interim managers as a powerful alternative to management consultants. This is because senior interim managers are cheaper than consultants, they implement as well as advise, they are focused on delivering results fast and importantly they will share their knowledge and experience with the team before they leave an assignment. Interims also don’t involve complex contracts or termination costs and they don’t carry the baggage of the ‘consultancy’s way’ of doing things.

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