{"id":636,"date":"2016-06-09T13:05:16","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T11:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/?p=636"},"modified":"2016-06-09T13:41:37","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T11:41:37","slug":"english-interim-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/english-interim-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Interim Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

Link to MT ( Management Today):<\/p>

By Adam Gale<\/a> Thursday, 19 May 2016<\/span><\/p>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Four secrets of top notch interim management<\/h1>

Interims aren’t just tough fixers waiting in vain for a real job. It can be a rewarding career option – if you can handle it.<\/h2>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
cross the country, hundreds of thousands of young people are subsisting on short term contracts while they try to get a \u2018real\u2019 job. While temping can pay okay, it gives little promise of progression and no security whatever. It might surprise those seeking the holy grail of a secure position then, that at the other end of the job market senior executives would choose to give it all up for the short-term life.<\/div>

Interim management is the Monaco Grand Prix to temping\u2019s traffic jam on the M4, its high-octane, high-stakes cousin. Senior executives and management consultants \u2013 usually interims have substantial experience in both \u2013 voluntarily ditch security for the life of a nomadic \u2018fixer\u2019 or transformation expert.<\/p>

The rewards can be great \u2013 often upwards of \u00a32,000 a day. But are you cut out for it? Here\u2019s MT\u2019s quick guide to getting interim management right.<\/p>

KNOW WHAT YOU\u2019RE GETTING YOURSELF INTO<\/h3>

\u2018Interim management is about driving an outcome, making improvements from week one and then moving on. Interims have typically seen and done it all before, and that’s critical\u00a0as our clients haven’t got time for dress rehearsals on the job,\u2019 says Steve Rutherford, managing partner of Interim Partners.<\/p>

It\u2019s essentially becoming self-employed \u2013 you have only yourself to rely on and will spend much of your time seeking out your next gig (or, more properly, engagement). \u2018Interim isn\u2019t a lifestyle choice,\u2019 Rutherford says. \u2018Think really hard about it, and if you still need help to make up your mind then think of something else to do.\u2019<\/p>

DON\u2019T RUSH IN<\/h3>

Given that your engagement could end tomorrow, the expectation to prove your worth quickly can lead to a temptation to act before thinking. Resist it, says Angela Smith, who\u2019s been an interim for ten years following a career as a partner at KPMG\u2019s risk and strategy consultancy and a six-year C-suite stint at HBOS.<\/p>

\u2018The important thing is listening,\u2019 she says. \u2018Typically firms are very bad at leveraging the resources that their staff give them. By talking to lots of relevant staff, there\u2019s the opportunity to find out what the problem is, and often what half the solution is.\u2019 Even then, don\u2019t expect miracles overnight \u2013 it can take a week to get a working hypothesis as to how to solve the problem, Smith says, and a month to get moving on it.<\/p>

HANDLE CONFRONTATION CAREFULLY<\/h3>

Despite their reputation as hard-as-nails fixers with an Alan Sugar-level penchant for terminations, interims would do well not to pick a fight at every juncture. \u2018Occasionally a full frontal assault on the walls is required, but very rarely am I confrontational,\u2019 says Smith. \u2018What I do is assemble all the information I can to create some new facts.\u2019<\/p>

It\u2019s like the amusing (but probably apocryphal) story of the standoff between a US Navy aircraft carrier group and a lighthouse. \u2018When the lighthouse said “we\u2019re a lighthouse”, the US Navy quietened down and got on with it because the facts were known,\u2019 Smith says.<\/p>

Though senior staff can often be defensive\u00a0(don’t be surprised – you have just been parachuted in to fix a problem they\u2019ve failed to fix,\u00a0usually\u00a0at a significantly higher wage), remember they do have the same ultimate goal in mind.<\/p>

‘I feel that your opinion as an interim is always valued; evoking change is what interims do, achieving change is difficult as a permanent member of staff,’ says\u00a0Sandra Basaran, who became an interim after 20 years in the insurance sector.\u00a0‘In my experience people respond well to the changes as they feel they are needed and interims are highly respected within organisations.’<\/p>

BUILD A GREAT REPUTATION<\/h3>

How do you actually get interim work, you might ask? In part it\u2019s through agencies like Rutherford\u2019s, but as with any other essentially freelance role, the key is to develop a reputation. Smith denies that networking is the main way to do that. \u2018What matters the most is doing a fantastic job. A client who\u2019s left feeling you did brilliantly will call you next time.\u2019<\/p>

It\u2019s also essential to know when to walk away. \u2018I step away before they get bored paying me,\u2019 Smith says. When you really believe they can handle it themselves, it\u2019s time to make an exit – it may mean temporarily taking yourself out of employment, but it will leave them wanting more. \u2018It\u2019s a bit like Ronnie Barker \u2013 leave at the top of your game, while they still want to see you, rather than when they\u2019re fed up of the sight of you.\u2019<\/p><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Link to MT ( Management Today):By Adam Gale Thursday, 19 May 2016Four secrets of top notch interim managementInterims aren’t just tough fixers waiting in vain for a real job. It can be a rewarding career option – if you can handle it.cross the country, hundreds of thousands of young people are subsisting on short term […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-englisch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":638,"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions\/638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/con-t.de\/data\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}