Getting ahead
When an organisation struggles to cope with external pressures, new systems or major change, the solution used to be to call in consultants. In the 1980s many companies, especially larger concerns, still had an excess of senior personnel for one-off emergencies and projects. But since executive staff levels have been delayered and downsized, these people no longer exist internally. Today, there is an alternative - a new breed of high-powered senior interim executives ready to step in at a moment's notice.
Often confused with management consultancy and contract recruitment, interim executive management originated in the 1970s in the Netherlands. Its growth accelerated there and it is now a well-understood and mature board-level resourcing alternative across Europe.
In many industries, and increasingly in the public sector, the concept of assignment-based interim executives is recognised as an ideal resourcing option - a way of managing change, improving performance, closing or disposing of unnecessary parts, or starting or integrating new ones.
Interim executives are brought in not simply to "keep the seat warm" or to maintain the status quo, but to deliver results.
The practice of appointing these quality executives at a very senior level, mostly for periods of only a few months, has spread rapidly in the past five or six years and is continuing to gain momentum, so much so that reputable head-hunting operators have established special divisions to meet this need.
Interim executive management, or head-renting, offers immediate access to people who are sufficiently overqualified to do a specific job without a learning curve, who can hit the ground running, bringing a huge amount of experience and objectivity from a wide variety of previous assignments.
Once their job is done, they move on to their next assignment.
This is one of the fastest-growing senior-level resourcing options of the 1990s. It should not be confused with management consultancy nor contract recruitment, as interim managers are brought in typically:
to resolve new situations where recruitment of senior executive staff would take too long;
for a Government agency due to privatise and needing its products or services positioned for the "real" commercial world;
when the sudden departure or illness of a board-level director causes serious problems during a period of major restructuring.
There is a similarity between head-hunting and head-renting, says Martin Wood, who recently set up Boyden Interim Executive, as part of Boyden International, a leading head-hunter.
"Both are about finding outstanding people to fill particular posts. Both require astute casting, personal chemistry and a perfect culture fit.
"The essential difference is that the head-renter may have to find a chief executive or finance director in a matter of days from a pre-selected ‘blood bank' of quality executives, whereas the head-hunter can take rather longer to search for the right permanent placement."
The idea of working on a succession of assignments obviously appeals to many executives with relevant experience. So what does it take to become an interim executive?
Interim executives are a special breed of men and women, according to Wood, so much so that many receive offers for permanent posts following a successful assignment but refuse them because they prefer the challenge of tackling fresh problems.
That's the acid test of an interim manager. They are likely to be in their forties, fifties, even sixties, with plenty of experience, an exceptional performance record in handling change at senior level, and a commitment to working as an interim manager, probably living out of suitcases during the week and never certain when a new assignment will follow.
In practice, they are busy for 45-50 weeks of the year. They can earn £300 to £500 or more per day, but get no paid holidays, pension, cars or other benefits.
An interim manager of several years' standing, 64-year-old Ken Lucas says: "It's for seasoned managers who know how to get things done. As a young man, you might take six months to settle gently into a permanent position. As an interim manager you have to get cracking after six hours! I find it very stimulating. A lot of people try it, but you have to be really committed to it."
