Interim
Management
Interim Management is the term for the temporary use of self-employed managers in a company, usually for 3 to 18 months. As a rule, the Managers bear entrepreneurial responsibility in a first or second level management position.
Interim Managers are used in various situations and areas of responsibility. They are in demand in case an unforeseen vacancy needs to be bridged quickly, additional resources are needed to bring an important project to a successful conclusion, or if the right personality and expertise are lacking in situations of crisis or change. They are often hired to carry out an unwelcome restructuring or even the closure and liquidation of a company.
In general, the Interim Manager leaves the company as soon as a project is completed or the problem is solved.
Interim Management Provides Significant Benefits:
Short term availability
Additional resources
Profound industry expertise
External expertise that remains within the company
Many years of leadership and project management experience
Corporate policy independence
No fixed costs for salaries, transparent fees
Short periods of operation termination
Are You Looking for an Interim Manager?
Use Our Network!
We will find you highly specialised Interim Managers with many years of experience in the industry to help you as quickly and efficiently as possible in a bottleneck or crisis situation. Our work begins with a detailed project briefing. TOPOS personnel consultants work with you to develop the required profile. Our experienced research consultants will sound out the interim managers suitable for your task and check their availability.
As a rule, we can present a selection of available candidates within a few days to help close your existing management gap as quickly as possible. Your TOPOS consultant is closely involved in this process and takes care of the necessary contractual arrangements for the project. You will receive a transparent cost calculation based on a daily rate right from the start. Even during the project phase, your TOPOS consultant is always available and accompanies the deployment of our interim managers in your company.
Our candidate network, which has grown over more than three decades, enables us to identify and present the most suitable manager for a specific need or a concrete project in the shortest possible time. Through TOPOS, our clients have targeted access to over 2,500 managers at all levels, expertise, industry and project experience. For specific projects, we only use strategically and operationally strong managers who have relevant experience from comparable situations and who have achieved above-average results in implementation.
How can we support you? Talk to us!
Job Profile Interim Manager
While temporary managers used to just slide into positions in the past, interim management is now a professional profile of its own and has developed into an effective tool of successfully mastering challenges in project, transition or crisis situations in Germany in recent years.
Today, interim managers are far more than just a stopgap solution. In general, they have many years of management experience, proven industry expertise and self-starter qualities. Their task is to provide fast and clear analysis, goal-oriented leadership and pragmatic problem-solving. Interim managers get people and processes moving and are able to act unencumbered by any burdens of the past or corporate structures.
Typical Areas of Operation
for Interim Managers
- Change Management – Support in Challenging Business Situations
In the case of management or transformation processes, necessary human resources are often tied up in day-to-day business or there is a lack of experience and expertise to develop and successfully implement suitable strategies. Here, the short-term inflow of external professional competence and personal skills is necessary to take the right steps and, if required, to reduce resistance within the company.
- Reorganisation and Restructuring – Interim Managers Are Familiar With Crises
Times of crisis in companies are often associated with hard cuts as well as structural and personnel changes. This is where external managers help, not only with their restructuring and/or reorganisation experience, but also with an objective, unencumbered external view. The goal of such an interim management assignment is to strategically realign the company and to leave it fit for the future.
- Project Work – Effective Problem-Solving for Demanding Tasks
In addition to the conservation of resources or the necessity to bring in external know-how, a permanent position often makes no sense for shorter, clearly defined projects. The interim filling of positions is becomes the method of choice in these situations. Compared to permanent managers, temporary managers often have the advantage of a stronger focus on results, a motivation boost and an unbiased, objective view of the company.
- Vacancies – Bridging Short-Term Bottlenecks
Management bottlenecks arise for a variety of reasons: illness, sabbatical or the unexpected departure of a manager are just a few examples. Until a permanent solution is found, it is important to ensure the smooth operation of the company in the short term with the help of a qualified interim manager.
Interim Manager or
Chief Restructuring Manager?
Interim Manager or Chief Restructuring Officer?
The term Chief Restructuring Officer, or CRO for short, is becoming increasingly common in the context of Interim Management. In many cases, the CRO is equated with an Interim Manager. And there is actually a lot to be said for this: CROs and Interim Managers both come to a company from the outside and usually take on management level tasks for a limited period of time.
There Are Serious Differences
Interim Managers take over management functions detached from the economic situation of a company, for example in the context of a short-term vacancy or to carry out a project of limited duration. CROs, on the other hand, are used when a company is in a crisis situation and only a well-founded restructuring measure can help to secure the continued existence of the company. For this purpose, external specialists are often called on for a variety of reasons; because the extent of a crisis is often underestimated from the inside, or to ensure that all weak points are uncovered without exception, regardless of personal sensitivities or self-interest.
A CRO Needs Crisis Experience and All-Rounder Competences
While industry expertise is of greater relevance to interim managers, the CRO must first and foremost have crisis experience, entrepreneurial understanding and generalist skills. As a rule, they replace the managing director or become part of the management or board of directors and, in addition to the restructuring mandate, are given far-reaching implementation powers.
In order to be able to implement measures that are usually not very popular, they must be convincing on many levels and create acceptance among all those involved. This requires social skills and communication abilities. Since internal and external residual resistance is nevertheless to be assumed, assertiveness and the ability to deal with conflicts are also indispensable.
The length of time a CRO is deployed varies from a few months to several years, depending on the company situation. Once the turnaround has been achieved and the company has been made fit for the future, the CRO will leave the company again and take effect elsewhere.
Would You Like to Work as an
Interim Manager?
Then please send us your detailed resume by e-mail to: info@topos-interim.de