Interim management - it isn’t always about saving the day
By Susan Moor | Published: 17 October 2011 | Comments (1)
Interim management could be vastly more popular - if it wasn’t plagued with dramatic images of heroic-like managers being parachuted in to help businesses overcome challenges of epic proportions.
Too often people assume, firstly, that the challenge is a negative thing – so the interim manager becomes a resource that is only thought of during times of trouble – and secondly, that the interim manager is some sort of egomaniac convinced of their own super-human business acumen. It’s this image that is misleading and unhelpful, and in my view prevents many businesses and investors from tapping into an incredibly useful resource.
An interim manager’s fundamental role is to protect and enhance the business investment – whether that investment is from a private equity house or bank, or the shareholders of a privately held company. That investment has its greatest potential to perform at times of transition in the business – an acquisition, renewed funding, a merger, expansion into a new territory or market, or the development of a new product or service. At these times an interim manager can bring the optimum mix of skills and experience to make sure every opportunity is realised – and every pitfall avoided.
But why would a business with a solid management team need an interim manager? Well it could be that expert and skilled though the team are, they have never guided a company through an acquisition. Or they may have worked exclusively in the UK for the duration of their careers and have little knowledge of how to start trading with India. An interim manager will never come into a business and run it better than the existing team, but they will be able to use their experience to successfully navigate unchartered territory.
Interim managers are not a different breed of manager – they are simply professionals who have experience in particular areas, which periodically will usefully supplement an existing team’s expertise. They are not super heroes or knights in shining armour – it isn’t always about saving the day. More often it is about helping a business execute the best possible strategy to achieve growth and success. Now when you look at it like that, couldn’t more companies benefit from an interim manager?
Susan Moor
Tim Thexton:
Oct 18, 2011 at 03:33 PM
Susan,
An excellent article.
How strange that the same companies will hire a specialist to install a new piece of machinery, install a new software system, advise on auditing their finances and potential taxation problems, or even union negotiations.
Yet, they will shy away from engaging a specialist during commercial reorganisation, moving to lean manufacturing (with all its inherent aspects), opening or closing an operation or carrying out other change.
In short they will try and do the work in house. The roles described are all those of a change manager and that is what most seasoned interims are - professional Change Managers. As such, they will lead and bring about the required change and on completion have, must have, made themselves "redundant".
A change manager can never be in-house, as he must have distance from the every day operation.
This is clearly the domain of the interim manager.
Tim