Interim management – hiring a leader for a temporary period – is becoming increasingly common in Norway and the rest of Europe. Many people think interim management leads to fewer permanent jobs. Our experience, however, is that an interim manager does not replace a permanent position but comes in addition to it. In other words, there are few arguments against interim management. But when does it pay to bring in an interim manager?
This post is from November 2021, and some of the content may be out of date.
When does it pay to bring in an interim manager?
There are many good examples of interim management paying off for businesses. Because these leaders come in with unique expertise, they can often get a great deal in place in a short time. Here are five examples of different types of leadership roles where it can pay to use an interim manager:
- The bridging leader – When you are waiting for a leader to be in place.
It can often take six months from the start of a recruitment process until a new leader is in place. Leadership is important for maintaining momentum and delivery capacity in a team. Leaders make sure things get done and take responsibility for which deliverables to prioritise. Periods without leadership are often very inefficient for a business. The same applies if you are waiting for a decision and need a leader before you know what you ultimately need. - The clean-up leader – When agreements and systems need tidying up
A clean-up leader is an interim manager who comes in for a period to renegotiate contracts and improve routines and systems on the procurement side. A leader like this can contribute to cost savings long after he or she has left. Once the strategic procurement work is done, many businesses will be able to manage the agreements with their own internal resources and will not need an expensive full-time negotiator on the staff.
Right now, we are in a period of sharp price increases for a number of raw materials, and it can then be very profitable to make purchases quickly. In some places, this will overload the purchasers for a period.
The same clean-up job can be done in other areas, such as IT, with the same effect.
- The transformation leader – When you want the transformation process to be fast and painless.
When a business goes through a transformation process, the aim is for the company to scale down or reshape the organisation to its optimal size in the shortest possible time. Most leaders are experts in what the business delivers and do not have the expertise to transform a business as painlessly as possible. An interim manager can then be a good alternative. It can also be an advantage if the person who was involved in the transformation is not responsible for the business afterwards. This way, conflict between the decision-maker and the employees can be avoided in the work that follows. - The build-up leader – When a new area is to be built up.
It is much faster to get a new business area or new service in place when you have a leader with experience of similar processes. A temporary leader with specialist expertise in business development knows how to establish a new segment quickly. This avoids the project being led by someone who spends a long time feeling their way towards the right decisions. Once the area is up and running, it can be easy for another unit to take it forward. - The mediating leader – When a conflict arises.
Conflicts and disagreements can arise in any business. Whether there are disagreements about the direction the company should take or personal rifts have developed between employees, it can be wise to bring in an outsider to resolve the problem. An interim manager will have no personal ties to those involved and can therefore resolve the conflict in a neutral and fair way.
