The Corporate Environment

"We first used a senior level interim executive to cover my position as group hrd during maternity leave. with the amount of activity including a major merger with carlton, we needed considerably more than a ‘stop gap’ solution. we therefore chose a heavyweight interim hrd with ftse 100 experience who happened to be from outside the media industry. all matters were successfully handled over a six-month period. changes relating to the merger were managed effectively and on-going development and mentoring of the hr team continued. we have since used interim executives on two further occasions." Philippa Hird, Personnel Director, ITV plc.

You’ve read about the value of using an interim executive. But how does it work in practice? Here are three examples of interim executives who stepped in to oversee a specific task within three large interational organisations.

Change management at Charter plc

An important acquisition, closely followed by the introduction of a major strategic and operational restructuring programme, left international engineering giant Charter plc requiring quality in-house resources to handle the change.

To see through their vision for the future, they needed a human resources professional, able to bring about fundamental change on a grand scale across several European countries.

Charter acquired Howden plc in April 1997. With 100 years in the business, Howden had risen to become the world leader in air and gas handling and the manufacture of large-scale fans and compressors. The company was established in 18 countries across the world and had maintained a leading market position in the production of industrial fans and air heaters.

Following the takeover by Charter, the company embarked on a comprehensive review, and the scope for performance improvement, which had initially been identified, was confirmed. The review team consisted of engineers, accountants and experienced general managers. The team pinpointed the organisational structure it would need to go forward. What they found they lacked was an HR executive who had international change-management experience.

Charter enlisted the help of BIE Interim Executive, the UK’s leading interim executive management provider, and within two weeks of the briefing, David Kitchen was in place at Howden. Kitchen has been an interim manager for ten years and previously held interim positions as head of HR in large organisations, including Barclays’ IT division, United Biscuits (in central Europe) and M&G Unit Trust.

One of Kitchen’s first tasks was to tackle the multiplicity of sites across Europe. There were nine production sites spread over the continent, each making the same product, with only slight differences. Rationalisation meant that four sites had to be closed – two in Scotland, one in England and one in France – accompanied by nine transfers of production across the continent. On the back of this restructuring came an investment programme in new IT systems for each site.

At each step on the route, hundreds of staff had to be organised. People were redeployed at one end and recruited and retrained at the other. The plan was to reduce the overall head count from 1,400 to 1,100.

The programme had to be steered in detail through the Howden European Works Council. European Union regulations require a company operating in more than one country to consult a works council consisting of elected employees on transnational issues. Timing was critical, as was the need to work closely with the council and the local unions. It was essential to use the council effectively because it had the power to set the programme back by a significant amount of time. At the time, there had been a recent case in France involving Renault, in which the auto company had tried to close a factory and the works council argued that it had not been adequately consulted. The whole programme was eventually pushed back several months.

Before Kitchen’s arrival at Howden, the operation had been running on a very devolved basis. Factories on different sites were making the same products. They were each buying their own components, but as this was not done in a centralised way, the company was unable to take advantage of its potential purchasing power. Human resource personnel was also fairly thin on the ground.

The chief executive of Howden European Air and Gas Handling Division, Bob Boland, wanted to centralise production and turn the factories into centres of excellence for specific products.

During Kitchen’s assignment, three key challenges emerged. The first was the different cultures and languages operating in the factories. Essentially, the staff in the factories were being asked to work together, whereas they had formerly viewed the other factories almost as competitors. While English was used in most of the negotiations, Kitchen had to be sure that all parties fully understood and agreed with what was proposed. Carrying out the restructuring programme required a high level of commitment, and the company had to be sure that people were not just agreeing superficially but that they were really buying in to the changes.

Another area of difficulty was obtaining good manpower facts and figures. Some of the centres had very little personnel data – no more than who was on the payroll. One of Boland’s themes was that the company should establish a Europe-wide business system covering everything from personnel data to production schedules and purchasing orders. The purpose was to ensure that the entire enterprise used the same systems. Kitchen’s role was to set up the various project teams to carry this work forward.

The third challenge centred on training. In an operation of this size, factories were being closed down, others were preparing to lose production, while yet others were gearing up to increase production. A system was introduced so that the company could ensure that when people were made redundant, they would be dealt with fairly and would be given every opportunity and training to help them find new work. The company enlisted local business development authorities to help with this.

Kitchen’s other responsibilities during the year-long assignment included bolstering marketing teams, making new appointments, setting up an after-sales service and introducing new divisions within the company. Another key task was to find a permanent replacement.

Kitchen reflects: “We had a clear plan and a talented group of general managers dedicated to achieving our aims. What was needed was an action plan that people could buy in to and implement. The plan had to be detailed and credible and the delivery had to be confident and on-time, despite the complications of the various initiatives and the dependence on the consent and goodwill of all of our employees at each stage.”

“Howden,” says Martin Wood of BIE, “is a good example of the interim management solution to strategic issues. The interim is quickly deployed and rapidly able to take charge of the situation. There is a clear goal and timescale. Relations with the permanent team are always strong – the interim is there to help and pull his weight and is respected for the experience he brings and confidence he can inspire during challenging times.”

Enhancing global performance within Elementis plc

When the pigments division of Elementis moved from being a US-centred operation with overseas subsidiaries to a global business, the need for immediate, extra horsepower in the finance department soon became apparent.

The group finance director, George Fairweather, looked for an interim solution through BIE Interim Executive, which had previously worked with Elementis during its major restructuring. The challenging brief was to identify a top-level interim international finance director with experience of working in the US and implementing major change programmes. Immediate availability was essential.

BIE operates with a team of known interims. From this core team, resources are accurately matched against the complex requirements of each change-implementation project. Julia Candlish at BIE says: “This meant that within days Geoff Bicknell was identified as the prime candidate, introduced to the client in both the UK and US and immediately confirmed as the man for the job. Not only did Geoff fulfil the basic criteria in terms of experience, personality and availability, but he had also previously worked in the same part of the United States, and had dual UK/US citizenship.”

Bicknell’s main tasks were to upgrade and develop the company’s finance function to be able to perform effectively on a global basis. “It was an incredibly interesting and challenging assignment,” he says. “Using an interim executive was the most effective way to get this job done. It was the right approach in these circumstances.”

Elementis is an international speciality chemicals group. It has instigated a major restructuring programme and Fairweather has used BIE Interim Executive on several occasions to help with this process. In this particular case, the company was moving from being a US-based business to becoming a global company. A financial expert was needed to act as a “change agent.”

“We needed someone who was over-qualified for the job, who could come in and run from day one, rather than spending three months in a holding position. Geoff ’s contribution was that he could immediately see the wood from the trees. With an interim you are not grooming and developing someone as part of a career move. You are looking for someone who has been a leader and a manager. You are not looking for advice. You want someone who can come in and lead the function and play a major role.”

Bicknell firmly believes that a key element of working as an interim manger is not to be seen as an outsider. “I made it very clear that I didn’t want to be seen as a hands-off consultant or a head office expert. I wanted to be treated as the financial director who was doing the job. I don’t like to stand on the sidelines and tell the team how to score goals. I like to play the game. I like to share the risks and share the achievements.”

Bicknell helped the company with the year-end closing. He helped the management team identify the “course corrections” needed to ensure that the company would meet the requirements of its business plan. He also helped recruit two permanent members of staff – a new financial director and a financial planning manager.

Lesson one, he says, of going into a company as a financial interim manager is to win the trust of the team. “It goes without saying that this is absolutely vital.” One of the first things he did when he went into the company was “to listen like crazy. You have to go through the listening process,” he suggests.

Once a level of trust had been established, the next stage was to understand the business. Following this, he then had to make sure that the finance function became more a part of the management team, rather than it being purely an accounting function. At the end of the three-month assignment, Elementis had two new members of staff installed with the right skills set; the finance department was more effective, more structured and more capable; and the company had a much clearer picture of where it stood in terms of its financial performance.

BIE says the number of overseas assignments for interim managers is rising all the time. Increasingly, companies are looking to the UK to find people with the business experience they need. Candlish at BIE says: “In such cases an interim executive fits the bill perfectly.

They can bring a wealth of expertise and experience from the UK, they can effect change swiftly and efficiently and they can leave behind an organisation that is better prepared to meet the challenges ahead.”

What's New?

The Corporate Environment

Three examples of interims working in large organisations

Change management at Charter plc

Enhancing global performance within Elementis plc