How to become an interim manager?
Does the monotony of corporate work sometimes weigh you down? Do you want to see different people on a regular basis and be confronted with new challenges? Do you have significant management experience? You may be made for interim management.
What are the steps to follow to become an interim manager?
Are you looking for an interim management firm, to carry out a complex project or to take charge of a mission with high stakes?
Here are some tips to help you select the most suitable service provider:
What is an interim manager?
An interim manager is an external operational manager , who is sent to a company to take over a company on a temporary basis.
You can find an interim manager in structures of any type: large group, subsidiary, SME, etc.
How to become an interim manager
Even more than specific training, a firm will favor “ soft skills ” and will endeavor to recruit its managers on the basis of certain skills.
Among these, we note for example:
- Tangible technical expertise in your industry, acquired through significant experience.
- Rapid integration skills and natural leadership: you will have to integrate into a new team and manage various personalities. It’s up to you to take the lead quickly and efficiently.
- An ability to quickly integrate complex situations.
- A culture of results anchored in the body: you will be mandated to carry out a project, you must provide your client with measurable results.
Why companies hire an interim manager
Faced with an increasingly mobile economy, the need for flexibility for companies of all sizes in terms of transition management is growing. The use of an interim manager has become, for many, an obvious solution to manage various situations.
It is interesting to note that large groups are far from being the only ones to call on interim managers : small businesses and ETIs are also called upon to seek their services.
The interim manager may be required to intervene in a variety of situations: If, traditionally, companies had recourse to an interim manager to manage crisis situations , the function has since diversified.
They can, for example, involve an interim manager to work on improving the performance of their improvement or to work on a strategic project.
Mistakes not to make
A selection error in your interim management firm can lead to a connection with a profile unsuited to your needs. This delegation of a bad profile can have very harmful consequences for your company. Here are some points of vigilance:
- Be careful not to orient yourself towards a firm that is too recently established on the market: for an interim management firm, the network of high-performance managers is really the sinews of war; To be put in contact with experienced and qualified managers, it is better to rely on a well-established interim management firm.
- Also pay attention to the selection criteria for managers: some firms are content to delegate to their client an interim manager whose profile corresponds “on paper” to the company’s needs: the delegated candidate demonstrates technical expertise that apparently enables the mission to be carried out. But they do not attach importance to the human skills of the candidates, to their natural leadership… yet, in a sometimes tense context, “soft skills” are an essential criterion.
- In addition, find out precisely about the follow-up of the mission proposed by the interim management firm: indeed, some firms are satisfied with a connection. However, careful monitoring before the mission, during it, and at the time of the post-mission transition, is absolutely necessary for its smooth running.
Selection criteria
Expertise in interim management is therefore a relevant selection basis for effectively choosing your firm. This expertise is generally significant of a substantial network of experienced managers. It is therefore a guarantee that your firm can rely on many skills… and refine its selection to present you with the profile best suited to your needs.
A strong international presence of your management firm will also allow you to benefit from a global vision, in the event of a mission requiring a lot of travel, such as the acquisition of a subsidiary.
Why Choose Reactive Executive
Leader in interim management , Reactive Executive is an interim management firm that was created more than ten years ago: we work with more than 10,000 managers who have a minimum experience of ten years, recruited on criteria demanding selection.
The places of intervention
Our presence is international, we can delegate interim managers in more than eight countries.
We have a network of more than two thousand interim managers.
Here are our places of Interim Management interventions :
Join us !
