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Why choose BIE?
What's New?The evolution of Interim Management
Mixed messages
The research, carried out by Sambrook Research in association with the Institute of Management Consultancy, indicated a 20 per cent growth in the interim market over the last five years. More importantly for the long-term prospects of the industry, it found a high level of satisfaction among companies that had used interims, with 88 per cent reporting they were “quite/very satisfied,” while 92 per cent said they would “probably/definitely” use interim managers again.
On the other side, the research indicated lingering concerns about the commitment of interims to the corporate cause. However, given that the alternative is often to use outside consultants, this seems an odd objection. The fact that interims, unlike consultants, are paid for results, makes it all the more curious, and suggests that the benefits have not been communicated with sufficient clarity.
The challenge facing the interim industry is to establish itself as a strategic resource. Although the business case for using interims at more senior levels is persuasive, interims have tended to be seen as stop-gap managers. A multiplicity of names for the practice has also muddied the waters. “Bridging managers,” for example, is the latest in a long line of terms to describe what interims do.
More confusion has resulted from the diversity of middlemen offering interim matching services. These range from CV brokers, which pluck names from a database, to the top end of the market, where interim providers interview and hand-pick candidates to fit the brief. A problem has been that, unlike the traditional recruiting industry, which is highly segmented, until very recently the different interim service levels have not been sufficiently distinct.
In the recruitment market, search firms (head-hunters) source the most senior appointments, and selection firms target middle management, leaving recruitment agencies to handle the high-volume CV database end of the business. The interim industry by comparison has appeared amorphous – lacking in clear delineation of service levels and offerings. This has confused clients.
As a result, interim management in the UK has been seen as a blunt instrument, with insufficient clarity about which providers serve the different segments of the management market. As the industry matures, there are signs that this is changing.
In the past, interim providers tended to be add-ons to executive search and selection companies, or consulting firms. But providers at the top end of the market are now untangling themselves from traditional recruitment and consulting services to establish specialist consultancies in interim executive provision.
To discuss your interim management requirements with BIE call +44(0)20 7222 1010