Interim managers not just for emergencies claims consulting group

While maternity and paternity leave, sabbaticals and secondments should, theoretically, be easier to plan for, many organisations are struggling to manage the gaps created by illness, new projects or temporary staff redeployment to support new initiatives such as outsourcing. Chris Fry, head of interim management at Orbys consulting says: “Interim managers can, and do, deliver extraordinary value during a short period of time. So why waste it? The onus is on business and the recruitment consultancies to work together to deliver and maximise the right resource to meet quantifiable, strategic objectives.” Interim Managers are paid a premium to step outside the remit and are able to deliver above and beyond the typical full time employee in that role. However despite the significant investment involved, less than 20% of companies are making use of interims in this way. Instead, they fail to define objectives or enable autonomy, actively constraining what the interim can deliver. “Increasingly harsh employment legislation is encouraging organisations away from permanent recruitment towards short term contracts and interim roles,” he continues, adding: “this is a market in its infancy”. The interim management role has been in place only a decade, so it is little wonder that few organisations have yet mastered the process of recruiting and deploying this resource to deliver maximum value. “Making the most of this highly experienced resource may require some behavioural changes within organisations, especially those that typically view the appointment of an interim as just one more recruitment problem. This is a chance to achieve significant change, to leverage skills and expertise to enable innovation both within the specified role and at a broader corporate level,” says Fry.