AGN INTERNATIONAL

Using the tools and network at our disposal to help you realise your corporate goals

WHAT IS INTERIM MANAGEMENT?

Interim management is the use of individuals - usually at executive board

level - in operational situations where prior experience is not only

desirable but essential to manage significant change or transition.

Interim Managers bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to a

problem or situation where there is neither time nor suitable personnel

in-house. They are "hands-on deliverers", not just strategic consultants;

they are there for as long as it takes to get the job done and no more.

Interim Managers can also be defined by what they are not:

They are not consultants

They are not potential employees

In general, they are not cheap. (Daily charge-

out rates vary but are typically £500 to

£1,000 for a Middle/Senior Manager, to

possibly £2,500 for a high calibre executive

with boardroom experience)

WHEN SHOULD YOU USE AN INTERIM MANAGER?

Sudden departure of a senior executive who is

essential to driving the business forward and now

impacting shareholder value

To manage and oversee a merger or acquisition

Crisis Management

Establishing new business ventures, developing

opportunities or closing down old business units

Project Management

Effecting cultural change

Turnaround of an ailing business

Mentoring and team development

Before you retain an interim executive you must identify your need and evaluate the parameters

of the task:

Define the nature of the project, the key tasks and the time-frame of the job. Do not

under-estimate the size of the job.

Consider your management team. Is anyone in-house suitable for this task?

Examine your motives for choosing an interim manager. What are you trying to

achieve that could be best done by an outsider?

Decide the calibre of person you need. Do you need an advisor – in which case you

might choose a consultant? Or, do you want someone to run things? An interim

should be able to do both.

Analyse your need. What are the qualities you are seeking? Determine the balance

of expertise and experience the job requires. How important is it that an interim

understands and empathises with your corporate culture?

Having established that you do require outside expertise, you need to ask some basic questions:

How much would you pay someone with the equivalent skills and experience on your

payroll?

Does what the interim have to offer justify their daily rates?

Where can they be most effectively deployed?

BENEFITS OF AN INTERIM MANAGER

Return On Investment (ROI)

Interim Managers are naturally commercial in their approach. Interim managers add value by

using their skills and expertise to help deliver an outcome, solution, service or mitigate risk that

provides a meaningful ‘return on investment’ to a client. Interim managers are paid on the

understanding of goals and objectives being performed and delivered, and not simply on the

basis of attendance.

Speedy, Responsive, Flexible Deployment of Resource

Interim Manager talent can be in place within days as opposed to weeks or months, essential

when time constraints are critical. Interim Management is a quick solution to bring resources on-

board, deploying those who are fully and properly skilled to deliver the service required.

The very nature of Interim Management means the greatest flexibility from a client perspective

including the extension, expansion, or termination of the services. There is no impact to

succession planning because Interim Managers are not permanent resources within the

organisation, therefore their position does not pose any threat to internal resources and

associated succession planning processes. There is also no impact to permanent headcount

because Interim Management provides a solution when clients are constrained on permanent

headcount, but still must deliver business objectives.

Experience Means Rapid Results

Interim Managers are highly qualified, experienced, and able to produce as soon as they arrive

on scene. Due to their skill level and expertise, these resources will be fully productive in a

matter of days. This over-qualified tendency is well suited for project work because it focuses on

achieving results and gives clear definition of key milestones, regular progress reports, and

measurement of performance.

An Interim Manager is more than qualified for the position they are taking on and therefore are

often stepping down in responsibility. The Interim Manager has past experience of similar

challenges to the ones that they are about to face. In addition to enabling them to have an

immediate effect and be productive from the outset, this experience ensures success. They will

transfer their skill and experience to your team.

Objectivity

Interim Managers provide a fresh perspective and are free to concentrate on what is best for the

business. They are free from any previous involvement in company processes, staff relationships,

office politics, or career advancement goals. An Interim Manager identifies problems and

implements new solutions that may not be visible to company insiders because they are too

close to the issue.

Accountability

Interim Managers will take full, direct, and primary accountability for the assignment, including

delivery of objectives, budget control, resource management, ontime delivery etc in accordance

with the scope of the assignment.

Rather than adopting a purely advisory role, as would a management consultant, an Interim

Manager becomes the responsible and accountable line manager who will take ownership and

manage a business or implement a project to success.

Effectiveness

Operating at or near board-level gives an Interim Manager the authority to effect significant

change or transition within a company; unlike a temp, they’re not just there to manage the

status quo. Interim Managers are hired as agents of change to make things happen quickly and

because they bring skill-sets that probably are not available within the company.

Commitment

An Interim Manager is committed to an Interim career and each assignment is never just a stop

gap until a suitable permanent position is found. Good interims embrace the challenges of

different and difficult assignments, take great pride in maintaining the highest standards, and

realize that the next job is dependent on the success of the current assignment.

Good interims will get control of the situation, put plans and resources in place to run the

company, find their replacement if necessary, and leave when the project ends or the company is

turned around.

There is value to the Interim Manager Process: bring expert management, get results quickly,

operate in a flexible environment, all while allowing you to go about the business that you do

well. Interim engagements are by definition for a period of time and staffed by a non-employee,

therefore avoiding labour laws that apply to employees.

WHAT IS A TYPICAL INTERIM MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT?

Interim assignments vary in scope and requirement, encompassing change management, ‘gap’

assignments, project management and turnaround management. The following stages of the

‘assignment lifecycle’ are typical of how an Interim Manager enters an assignment, carries out

the actual implementation, and finally exits the assignment.

The early stages have much in common with consultancy, as do later stages with project

management, but the accountability and responsibility that interim managers have for

successful analysis and delivery of a fitting solution is what makes these stages uniquely typical

of the interim management approach.

1. Entry. The prospective client and Interim Manager make initial contact and

explore the requirement sufficiently for the client to be able to decide to

engage the Interim Manager (or not) to address the situation. This is likely

to involve a ‘preliminary’ assessment of what the client thinks they want and

the boundaries of the Interim Manager’s contribution. Typically this takes

place over one or more initial meetings and results in the Interim Manager’s

provisional engagement.

2. Diagnosis. The Interim Manager researches the current situation in order to

understand it, how it came about, what are the requirements of the varying

stakeholders. At this stage a more detailed understanding of ‘what the

situation is’ is formed as well as approaches to address it. Differing issues or

problems may come to light at this stage than initially highlighted by the

client. On a ‘gap’ assignment this diagnosis may run concurrently with the

handling of immediate issues. Typically the diagnosis stage could take

anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

3. Proposal. The Interim Manager presents a more detailed proposal which

acts as the interim assignment objectives and plan. If this differs significantly

from the preliminary plans determined at ‘entry’, the solution may involve

different requirements from the Interim Manager or possibly the ending of

the assignment. It is common that this ‘proposal’ may challenge the client’s

understanding of the situation, on the basis of Interim Manager’s expertise.

The Interim Manager takes the responsibility to propose a solution most

likely to be effective, not automatically the one originally requested.

4. Implementation. The Interim Manager takes responsibility for managing the

intervention, project, or solution, tracking progress and conducting periodic

feedback reviews with the client. During this stage, Interim Managers

particularly exemplify their expertise, accountability and effectiveness.

Depending on the assignment, they get as close to the situation as is

necessary, whilst remaining an independent practitioner. They may be

managing teams, projects, dealing with crises or transformations or simply

‘holding the fort'. Their implementation is unencumbered by company

politics or culture, focused on the task in hand.

5. Exit. The Interim Manager, approaching project end, ensures that objectives

have been met, that the client is satisfied. This stage may involve

‘knowledge handover and training’, determining and sourcing ‘business as

usual’ successors, and ‘sharing lessons learnt’ in the process. The Interim

Manager is focused on the success of the assignment and not simply the

length of their own tenure, which means that this stage can be carried our

professionally and objectively. Often this will be end of the Interim

Manager/client relationship. Sometimes Interim Managers may continue to

give occasional ad hoc consultancy. Sometimes the Interim Manager will be

re-engaged on a follow-on or further assignment, starting the ‘lifecycle’

again.

THE VISION INTERIM MANAGEMENT PROCESS

1. Role Brief taken in person

2. Production of Longlist

3. Re-interview of Interim Managers

4. Shortlist drawn up

5. Interim Appointment

6. Bespoke Client online management information portal established

7. Contractor Support Programme set up

8. Vision 360

WHAT CAN A VISION CLIENT EXPECT TO RECEIVE?

Market map and research document produced with weekly updates

Face to face Interview and psychometric profiling conducted

Shortlist report produced with 2-3 people to consider

Continuous offer management support and on boarding through Vision 360

INTERIM MANAGEMENT or MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY

There is a vast distinction between an Interim Manager and a Management Consultant. Although on

the surface they appear to be similar roles, their functions are quite distinguishable.

Essentially, an Interim Manager is a Management Consultant, but a Management Consultant is not

an Interim Manager.

INTERIM MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY

Hired as an independent person on the basis of his or her personal abilities and reputation.

Generally works through an agency and is hired on the basis of the agency’s merits more so than his or her

own reputation.

Will always try to cut costs and improve company effectiveness to achieve organizational goals as quickly

as possible. This will assist in building reputation.

May try to push additional services or “stretch out” the service to increase his or her own revenue or that

of the agency.

Does not only advise on the situation, he or she also implements measures to solve the problem.

Does advise on a situation, but will not implement his or her own advice.

Reports directly to you, the employer, and not through a third party agency, so you are well informed and no

conflict of interest.

Reports back to his or her agency, who then reports to you, costing valuable time and other resources.

Works with your own team, provided by your company as you see fit.

Works with the people he or she chooses and brings them into your company instead of adapting to work

with the people you already have.

Specialists in their particular fields. Their experience is

vast and relates to the particular field that you hire them for.

Generally do not specialize in one area, but are a “jack of all trades” in business.

It is clear, then, that an Interim Manager is able to perform a far more

specialised job for your company, using your own resources and reporting

only to you. He or she does a “start to finish” job: overseeing the

company’s current operations, developing strategies for improvement and

then implementing the strategies.

A recent survey of 100 senior directors reported that 78 per cent of them

feel that Interim Managers are a better option than Management

Consultants.

What this all means is that the interim management industry is beginning

to expand. Companies increasingly prefer Interim Managers to their

consultant counterparts because of the more complete service that they

offer.

CHOOSING AN INTERIM MANAGEMENT PROVIDER

Should you choose to develop a strategic partnership with a specific Interim Management

Provider, you will want a reputable firm with a good track record. Narrowing the field can be

made simpler by asking some fundamental questions about the firm’s policies and processes.

Five important questions you need answered before you select an IM Provider:

1. Exactly who will be doing the work?

You are entitled to know what priority your role will be given by

the provider. Will you have a dedicated account representative for your

search?

What level of oversight or attention will come from the firm’s senior

executives or partners? If more than one person will be involved, find out

who will be responsible for which parts of the search and the number of

years of experience each person involved has in the provision of Interim

Managers.

2. Do they have a proven interim management methodology?

Is there a systematic search methodology in place that will target any

industry, function or geographical area? Ask about typical search time lines,

shortlisting processes, typical network approach, do they need to advertise

and where?

3. Can the provider evidence the strength of their network?

Who are the best interim managers they can call on? What is their track

record? Do they have the strength of network in your specific industry or

functional expertise? How regularly do they re-assess their network?

4. Do they have a defined candidate assessment and candidate performance

management system?

What tools are in place for comparative candidate grading or scoring?

Is there a client assessment mechanism that works to define, articulate and match

for corporate culture?

How do they assess the performance of an Interim Manager once on assignment?

5. Does the firm have experience in filling positions relevant to the position you are

seeking to fill?

Finally, ask about the firm’s experience and those companies for which it

has secured top management and industry leaders.

WHY INTERIM MANAGERS WORK

Experienced management is one of the most important factors behind the success of any

business. Many managers have ample enthusiasm and energy, but often lack the

knowledge and experience needed to sidestep easily avoided mistakes. As a result, far too

many companies get into trouble and can die before reaching their potential market value.

If you have an extraordinary innovation, opportunity, or even a unique situation an interim

executive can help launch, grow, or turnaround your venture by temporarily filling one or

more key management roles in your company. They operate in a senior executive capacity,

by your side, as an experienced executive with a vested interest in your long-term success.

Interim executives are experienced managers who have a proven track record of resolving

the problem and issue you need to overcome. Even periods of growth and success bring

their own problems. As your partner, they roll up their sleeves and work towards laying

the groundwork for a successful resolution. They work hard, because they succeed only if

you succeed.

In a typical engagement, the Interim Executive will form an executive management team

(often using some existing resources) and take managerial control over much of the

situation, allowing you to focus on what you're best at: investing in companies, strategic

direction, corporate governance, managing other ventures, product innovation, etc.

Interim Managers are typically hired by private equity investors, board of director

members, corporate council, and sometimes the management team or CEO. Headhunters

are often used to locate these Interim Managers for special situations. Finding a reputable

Interim Management Provider with a strong, senior network, will help you overcome

challenges and issues quicker, with objectivity, and a significant return on investment.

For more information on the strength of our Interim Management network or a

breakdown of our recent track record, please contact:

Vision Board Advisors Ltd

145-157 St John Street London

EC1V 4PW

www.visionboardadvisors.co.uk