The Interim Management Value Proposition
Recent studies indicate that the greatest challenge facing organizations today is the scarcity of experienced talent to sustain and grow their businesses. Increasingly organizations are answering this question with interim management. In fact, analysts predict a 90% growth in organizational spending on temporary leaders over the next ten years.
At the senior level, where replacing a leader traditionally takes an average of eighteen months, this challenge is all the more acute. This leadership vacuum is a major detriment to organizational growth. Hiring high quality full-time leadership incurs significant costs (signing bonuses, relocation, recruiting fees of 25% or higher), and bears the significant risk of hiring a full-time leader who may prove to be a poor fit.
Today's organizations are frequently challenged to find experienced leaders who can continue to build vision and strategy, as well as manage people, all while avoiding the opportunity cost associated with the absence of a person in a key role in an important functional area. Given the ever-increasing demand for experienced leadership and the challenges associated with getting that full-time leader in place, what can companies do to mitigate both costs and risks, while ensuring experienced leadership through a period of transition?
The answer is interim management.
Who are the best candidates for interim management? They are men and women whose professional experience includes overcoming the specific challenges faced by the hiring organization. They are not learning on the job, and therefore, they can contribute high-value results almost immediately. Using interim management to fill a role provides organizations with almost immediate bandwidth to help with daily operational and leadership needs.
Transitional periods are difficult for any organization--whether due to the sudden departure of a leader, a merger, entering a new market, establishing a new business model, a new product launch, or an organizational redesign. In many cases, the best candidates for interim management may not even have the same industry experience as that of the business hiring them. Bringing in an interim leader with "been there, done that" experience can bring in a fresh perspective, calm an organization, eliminate distractions, and keep the organization focused on its core work.
For the foreseeable future, the crisis of leadership talent will challenge fast growing organizations and those undergoing transitions. Strategically relying on interim management can give these organizations a competitive edge to preemptively address this challenge by always having the right talent ready for the right results.
About the Author:
Tim Jenkins is the co-founder of Point B, a leading management consulting firm headquartered in Seattle, WA. For more information about our interim management consulting services, visit our website.
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