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The parachute regiment comes to the rescue Thursday, 2nd July 2009 As the downturn bites, interim management is increasingly attractive Tim Barber Original Article here. IF all the talk of bottoming out and green shoots is to be taken seriously, one career sector looking to benefit is interim management, the arena of senior executive trouble-shooters. A development from the older American model of turnaround specialists, interim management – in which executive-level experts are parachuted into companies to address specific operational issues and oversee the process of solving them – has seen a sharp rise over the past few years, and is reckoned to be worth £750m a year. While the sector has been hit by the economic downturn, with companies unwilling to shell out for their services, experts say that interim managers’ usefulness in both the downscaling and upscaling of organisations makes it one of the last sectors to be hit and among the first to recover. “When you come out of the recession, companies don’t immediately add people to the permanent headcount, they bring in interims instead,” says Charles Russam of Russam GMS, one of the longest-standing agencies in the interim management sector. “The astute business never expands too quickly, and they want to remain nimble even as they’re expanding, so anything that can be turned into a project is, managed by interims.” Interim managers are not used as replacements for permanent staff, says Russam, but do the work companies don’t want to dedicate internal resources to. For those at senior level who have been made redundant in the credit crunch, the idea of taking on short-term consultancies and project work as a way to bring in income while hunting for a permanent position will seem tempting. Sure enough, the ranks of those describing themselves as interim managers have been swelled in the past few months – but sector insiders warn against executives assuming this is an instantly viable solution to their situation. “Many people send their CVs out to agencies and to their network, and sit and wait for the phone to ring because they think they’re God’s gift to employment, but it doesn’t happen,” says David Harries, director of the Interim Management Association (IMA) Institute, the professional body representing interims. He says that people hoping to become interims as a stopover are likely to get sniffed out by clients, who won’t want to employ a person who is likely to disappear as soon as a permanent position becomes available. In London, workshops are run by the Interim Management Association (IMA) for those thinking of becoming an interim, and less than half of those who participate end up pursuing it. For those that do, however, there are clear attractions in a flexible lifestyle free from the hierarchies and strictures of large organisations, and with daily rates ranging from the mid-hundreds to £1,000 plus, the rewards can be alluring. WIDE-RANGING SKILLS Interims are keen to spell out what separates them from turnaround managers – they help companies in difficulties, but interims can have much more wide-ranging skills and uses – and management consultants, who identify problems and solutions, but don’t implement them. “You come into a company, deliver a solution and hopefully leave a legacy for the permanent team,” says Celia Adams, a finance director who worked for several big corporates and SMEs before turning to interim management for a more flexible lifestyle. Adams sits on the committee of InterimWomen.com, a support group set up to reflect the growing number of women turning to the career. “As a woman, it’s good to have that flexibility and not be tied down with all the strings that come with being an employee,” she says. “You’ve got to be prepared for a bit of feast and famine, as you’ll have downtime between jobs, but if you can stand that, it’s very satisfying.” |
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Rise in female interims Wed, 10 Jun 2009 Women make up a third (32%) of interim executives, according to an Ipsos MORI report by the Interim Management Association (IMA). The findings indicate that so far this year there has been a 10% increase in female interim managers from the end of last year. A year ago, women accounted for only a quarter of interim managers, but due to demand for diverse working choices, flexibility of roles or the affects of the recession, more women are exploring interim as a career. Kate Mansfield, managing consultant at interim management specialists Alium Partners, told Recruiter: “Our experience certainly mirrors the IMA’s findings. I would say that the number of female interims on our database is roughly 10-15% higher than 12 months ago. “In general, with both men and women, we are receiving around 100 new profiles each week, of which we will end up working with just 5%.” Rachel Youngman, chairman of Interimwomen.com, a website which promotes the role of women in the world of interim management, says: “Overall this is a positive step. However, in part more women could be exploring interim as a result of the recession. “They could well end up on a database but not get any assignments. I’d like to see the figures again next year and see how many have been on assignment. It’s a tough market for interims.” Jason Atkinson, director of interim management company Russam GMS, told Recruiter: “Although the figures mirror what Russam is seeing, it still isn’t good enough. “We need to be putting together shortlists for clients that are 50/50. Clients are looking for diversity, reflecting the society in which their business operates in. They don’t want ‘white male’ all the time.” |
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People - Plug the gap Wed,13 May 2009 With permanent recruitment frozen in many cases, interim managers could be just the resource businesses need to get back on track. Interim managers can tackle complex projects on a pay-as-you-go basis. At an average cost of £600 a day, a so-called “sensibly over-qualified” individual can be parachuted in for a few months to get your house in order. In theory these experienced managers can hit the ground running and get results in a fast, effective fashion. “Many companies simply don't have the time or ability to do what’s needed,” says James Hunt, executive committee member of industry body the Interim Management Association. “If they are not able to employ someone full time, they can bring in an experienced manager on a flexible contract who has been there and done it. At a fraction of the cost of a consultant, they can identify problems and deliver solutions.” As well as having the experience, interims are a fresh pair of eyes, free from the constraints of internal politics. “They will have been successful in much larger organisations and possess skills that smaller companies could never otherwise afford to access,” says Steven Dengel, director of interim provider BIE in Birmingham. “These people live off their references and are very much driven by results. They not only have to be successful in delivering the task, but also have to be committed to leaving a legacy, transferring their knowledge so that permanent staff can carry on the good work once the interim leaves.” Celia Adams is a Midlands-based interim expert in business turnaround. As a chartered accountant she has experience as a finance director and a managing director. She says: “There is a lot of focus on my type of work as banks in particular are insisting that companies devise robust turnaround plans to maintain their funding. Much of our time is spent on cash control, improving margins and generally managing working capital. “Many small and medium-sized companies put off dealing with these issues until it’s too late. An interim has seen it all before. They can go in, take a look at the books and very quickly get to grips with the situation. A professional turnaround can deliver solutions you hadn’t even considered.” To find the right person, most businesses use interim providers that act much like recruitment agencies, charging fees of up to 30 per cent of the manager’s daily rate. “It’s not just about selecting someone with the right skills and experience. We provide a handpicked shortlist of candidates, but clients need to interview to ensure the chemistry is right,” says Richard Beesley, Midlands-based partner of interim provider Odgers Interim. Interim providers should be prepared to invest time and effort in getting to know your business. “They should also be sympathetic to your financial constraints,” says Charles Russam, managing director of interim provider Russam GMS. “With more interims chasing fewer jobs, it’s competitive and there are good deals to be done. Work closely with your supplier to ensure you’re paying a fair price for the best people.” |
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60% of female interims find their work varied and stimulating Over half (55%) of respondents believe their work gives them greater flexibility in their working lives, which leads to a better work/life balance. Furthermore, the majority of female interims involved in the research had to overcome a number of obstacles when they started their career. Over half (52%) said that networking and marketing themselves successfully was the most difficult challenge they faced. Over a third (37%) found that winning their first assignment and convincing someone to take them was difficult. Rachel Youngman, Chair of Interimwomen says, “The overwhelming majority of women seem to relish the challenging and stimulating nature of interim work and prize this more highly than the financial rewards. They enjoy going into different industries and learning new skills and for many, Interim working is giving them a more flexible way of working and a better work life balance.” |
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'Women in the workplace - a career in Interim Management' One reason why there is a lack of women in the boardroom is because many are becoming interim managers, which allows them to work at a very senior level but enjoy a more flexible work-life balance, suggests Charles Russam. 5 February 2009 In January, the TUC claimed that women will be hit hardest by the recession because many work in part-time jobs and in industries such as retail or hospitality which have been affected badly by the downturn.  The TUC's general secretary Brendan Barber said we are in an "equal opportunities recession", compared to the aftermath of Britain's previous economic downturns, when the majority of job losses were based in manufacturing and industry. Whether or not women will be more badly affected than men remains to be seen, but new patterns of female working in the UK have been evolving for some time. Today, there are many new career options available which are ideally suited to women who want greater flexibility in their working lives, such as interim management. Read original full article. |
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Let's mix it up a little White men at the tail end of middle age - that's the interim manager stereotype. What's being done to further equal opportunities in the sector? • Sara Gaines • Society Guardian, • Wednesday October 29 2008 Kapil Kapur finds working as an interim manager helps him break through the barriers that made it hard to get past the interview stage for permanent jobs. He says employers worry about his ability to communicate because he has a cleft lip. But for interim roles he has found more people willing to give him a chance. Read original full article. |
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Interim managers with business-critical skills are the winners in the economic downturn – so what’s the market really like? Joy Persaud gives an overview After all, a recession, as it is now being called, spells insecurity and even redundancy for some, but may signal good times for the interim manager. For starters, there’s the obvious freeze or reduction in the number of new permanent posts available in organisations where work nonetheless needs to be done. Talented interims are therefore required to undertake project work and to handle situations in firms that lack experience in certain fields. |
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Challenging, flexible – and out of the way of office politics Interim management could help more women to get into the boardroom Journal: Human Resource Management International Digest At 36 years of age, Sarah Hadley has an impressive CV. She has worked in the UK business of Australian insurance company AMP, and at Arthur Andersen, Zurich Financial Services, Royal Sun Alliance and NM Rothschild. Her jobs have included Sarbannes Oxley and Basel II compliance, which required the application of both technical regulatory and project-management expertise. Oh, yes, and she has taken a career break to have a baby. Sarah Hadley is one of the growing number of women who are opting for interim-management roles in preference to a conventional, permanent job. She finds that her background in business strategy and regulation lends itself naturally to interim work. “I love the challenge of working as an interim manager in the financial-services industry and I am completely driven by the focus on getting things done. You have to hit the ground running and deliver on time and I thrive in that kind of environment. I have also found that there is scope to work on a part-time basis – as long as I deliver – enabling me to achieve an excellent work-family balance,” she said. “Project work in the financial services sector is hugely stimulating and varied, hard work and, of course, financially very rewarding.” Better work-life balance and more stimulating work Achieving a better work-life balance and the opportunity to take on more stimulating work are the top attractions for women who become interim managers, according to a survey of 700 female interim managers, commissioned by Russam GMS, a UK interim-manager provider. Surprisingly, financial reward is not such a high priority, and few have left permanent employment to earn more money or take on a more senior position. But while interim management brings flexibility, it does have drawbacks. Assignments can come up at different locations across the UK and travel away from home is often part of the role. Around a quarter of respondents are unhappy about working away from home. Another negative factor, for some, is the constant pressure to perform. A third of women who took part in the survey dislike the feeling that there are higher expectations on them than on permanent staff. That is not a problem for Rachel Youngman, though. A general manager and chief executive, she started her interim career in 2003 when she was looking for a new challenge and for more variety in her working life. She had enjoyed a high-flying career for many years working as a deputy executive director for an international charity. Although her job had involved overseas travel, was financially very rewarding and had even given her the opportunity to meet well-known people such as Nelson Mandela, she felt it was time for a change. “I wanted a less-predictable working life, to learn more and to be really challenged and pushed. I was approaching 40 and had many years of experience behind me, so the time seemed right to take the big decision to become a self-employed consultant and interim manager,” she explained. She decided that consultancy work, combined with taking on interim assignments, would give her enough work and the variety she was looking for. It would also help her to avoid the “feast or famine” situation that is commonly suffered by the self-employed. Hit the ground running “As an interim, it is essential you hit the ground running as you are paid to deliver from day one,” she said. “There is no grace period or settling-in time for interims so it is not for everyone, but I personally love the challenge.” Rachel Youngman has deliberately chosen to work in different industries to get the variety she craves. She was a consultant at the Cabinet Office and is currently part-time chief executive at the British Youth Council, where she reports to a board of directors all in their 20s. “It is a wonderful way of working and I couldn't be tempted into returning to a permanent role. After all, I had a great permanent role. This way of working just suits me better,” she explained. Meanwhile, marketing director Janet Morris has never been without an assignment since she started her interim-management career seven years ago, at the age of 34. Each one typically lasts between six and nine months. She often acts as a portfolio interim manager and works on two part-time assignments at the same time. “I work with my clients to put together my job briefs, so my deliverables are completely clear and I understand my goals from day one,” she said. “Having such clarity and focus is liberating and this differs completely from a permanent role where goals are often a bit hazy. I know what I am responsible for and what I have to deliver and while this adds an element of pressure, I thrive in this kind of environment.” She also likes the fact that she avoids office politics. Not a soft option She has worked for organizations such as the Energy Saving Trust, Ordnance Survey, Air Miles, and the Queen's lawyers, Farrer & Co. She is currently the only female director at family-owned construction firm Osborne. Her roles have ranged from handling large branding projects, managing strategic-marketing assignments, through to setting up or restructuring marketing departments as well as crisis management. “Interim management gives me choice of whom I work for and on what, and a more flexible working life,” she said. However, it is not a soft option. “The job is challenging and can be stressful at times. Also, anyone who is thinking of a career in interim management needs to be ready to be completely flexible and willing to travel. For example, I used to commute from London to Southampton every day for one assignment – travel is part of the job.” She admitted that working as the only interim manager at a senior level in a company can feel isolating at times, which is why she stresses the importance of making the effort to network with other interims. Russam GMS chairman Charles Russam said: “There is a huge talent pool of women on the market who have not yet considered interim management as a solution to balancing a career with a more flexible working life which, as our research clearly showed, is a top priority. Support network launched “With more men taking joint responsibility for the family and domestic commitments, there is more opportunity than ever for women to pursue more interesting and challenging career options,” he continued. “We sometimes come across husbands and wives who job share – dividing up the responsibility of child care and taking it in turn to build their respective careers. Interim management can offer a highly effective route into this kind of career sharing and could ensure job fulfilment for men and women.” Research by PriceWaterhouseCoopers recently highlighted a sharp fall in the number of women at senior board level in FTSE 350 companies. While interim management has traditionally been male-dominated, Charles Russam believes that more women and young people are now being attracted to the work. Russam GMS has launched a network, Interim Women, to support women working in the industry. It is a forum where women working as interim managers can come together to network at events, share best practice and meet like-minded individuals. A website, www.interimwomen.com, provides a calendar of forthcoming events, news and advice for getting the most out of an interim career. The company hopes to attract more women into the profession and provide a forum for them to share best practice. Note: David Pollitt, Human Resource Management International Digest editor, wrote this article. |
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Go freelance – and make a difference Parachuted into key positions, the interim manager is a master of getting speedy results By Chris Green Thursday, 7 February 2008 Freelancing is not an activity normally associated with top-end business executives. But with today's boardrooms demanding higher levels of efficiency, flexibility and expertise than ever before, more high-flyers are forsaking their permanent positions in the City for careers of variety – and uncertainty. Meet the interim managers: specialist business mercenaries who would rather risk unemployment than spend the rest of their working life in the same office building. Read original full article. |
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Ever Considered Interim Management?
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Juggling a career and home life is a balancing act for many women and can be one of the greatest challenges they face. The Equalities Review published last year showed that mothers of young children face more discrimination in the workplace than any other group, those with children under 11 are 45% less likely to be employed than men, and single mothers fare even worse, being 49% less likely to be employed. However, one way for professional women to stay at the top of their game and achieve a better work life balance is through Interim Management. |
Keeping women in finance: short-term step to a long-term goal The latest Top 50 survey by Accountancy Age revealed that the average number of female partners in the Top 50 firms is around 12%. And although this year’s figures show an upward trend, the number of female partners still lags way behind their male counterparts. How can we encourage women who have already reached a senior position in their field to stay and grow in this sector? One of the options that many women are embracing is interim management an area where they can combine the best of working at a senior level in finance with a flexible lifestyle. We define interim managers as ‘experienced, hands-on executives and senior managers, who have a proven track record and operate at all levels, from the chairman of the board to the line manager, from programme director to senior project manager’. Charles Russam, chairman of the longest established mainstream interim management provider, Russam GMS, explains. ‘When a company needs a finance professional immediately, by taking on an interim manager they will most often get an over-qualified professional. This gives them peace of mind that they are getting a safe pair of hands’. Stephen Park, director general of finance at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (which regularly employs financial interims), agrees. ‘Interims - with their wider experience and well-practised skills - add real value from day one. They provide breathing space to allow a more considered permanent recruitment process or help get wayward projects back on track - in both cases taking the pressure off more senior colleagues.’ Russam has seen a rise in the number of women turning to interim management, with over 25% of the total number of women on the company database having been registered since January 2008. Urvashi Bhagat has extensive experience within the public sector - working as an interim financial professional for the last five years. ‘I wanted to get to a senior position in the public sector, particularly in central government and its bodies, and saw interim working as a fast-track to developing the necessary skills and experience,’ she says. Diane Gray-Smith, an experienced interim manager, saw interim management as a way to work on the most exciting aspects of finance away from more traditional accountancy roles. ‘I relish having tough targets in a short period of time along with a variety of work,” she says. ‘Interim working is not the most natural path to follow and there are many demands. While interim management used to be predominantly about filling in recruitment gaps, interims today are being used far more strategically by organisations. Change management or major restructuring projects are common as well as handling acquisitions or turnarounds, or developing new projects or businesses. As Charles Russam says: ‘Many interim managers also have board-level experience and can contribute an independent view and a fresh set of eyes when looking critically at all areas of the business. ‘This can be invaluable in a project when an interim manager has been called in to work on a “distressed” company.’ Gray-Smith believes that her varied interim experiences have allowed her to rapidly assess business performance. This cross-sector knowledge does not make her feel constrained by typical business models often used in a particular sector. Russam GMS, together with CEDAR Talent Management, has set up a resource for women working as interims, Interim Women (www.interimwomen.com). The forum invites women who work in all sectors to join. ‘One of the key goals of this initiative is to encourage networking and provide a level of support for interims who come across similar daily challenges although they work in very different roles,’ she added. However, it is not for everyone. A jump into interim management could be viewed as risky without the perceived security of a permanent contract of employment interims are only paid for each day that they work. Constant challenge Celia Adams is an interim turnaround finance director with an extensive track record in mergers and acquisitions in the private and public sectors, including change management in blue-chip companies, AIM-listed organisations, SME’s and Non-Departmental Public Bodies. She first qualified as an accountant and has since worked across a number of industries as a finance director. ‘Interim working has given me lots of different experiences rather than the same calendar of events in a permanent role. It allows me to keep up my skill-set through constant exposure to new technologies and working with different management styles from one contract to the next.’ The nature of interim management means that professionals are propelled into an organisation at a higher level, with the sole aim of bringing about a solution to a specific problem in a short space of time. ‘Your skills and position as in interim mean that you can often facilitate a result by cutting across any barriers that may be there for people who work for the organisation full-time,’ Adams added. Jason Atkinson is deputy chairman of the Interim Management Association |
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Into the breach The number of mainstream interim management providers is increasing, and in these days of Gen Y priority awareness, it’s a sector that’s growing in importance (part of the flexible working market). These providers put senior executives into businesses for an interim period: for projects, for filling gaps, for consultancy work. The drivers are any chief executive looking at a situation and wondering, “Who do we know who could come in quickly, be tailor made for what our requirements are, and disappear as soon as the task is finished?” Charles Russam, founder of interim management provider, Russam GMS has been involved in this industry for over 20 years: Russam GMS has over 8000 interim managers its contact database. He tells me the sector isn’t a new one: “We have a trade association called the Interim Management Association, that about 30 of the mainstream members are members of. In fact, I was the founder of it 18 years ago!” he beams, proudly. “Its members are all UK based, but some of them operate abroad continentally or around the world, including ourselves.”The firm is also a member of the Taplow Group, an international search and human capital consulting organisation, headquartered in Luxemburg. The group has 40 firms in 30 different countries around the world, including Russia and China. One of Russam GMS’s current tasks is to set up an international interim management organisation, harnessing worldwide resources: no easy task, given the difference between legislative framework and customer practice in each country. Even within Europe, these things can be surprisingly diverse. “They've got radically different ideas about interim management,” Russam states. Everyday, interim management providers have CVs arriving, people calling asking to be put on the databases, asking to have the concept of interim management explained. Russam has furnished the company’s website with a considerable amount of information, which is regarded as one of the most informative in the sector. Then it is the case to market the service to clients, who come to the service providers needing people for assignments – usually at very short notice. “We can produce a short list very quickly, depending on the client's requirements. And usually within five days we'll have a short list to them. And then often we help them going through the interview process, then choose somebody, and that person starts. And it's supported by a contract, as indeed, all these things are,” explains Russam. “The person starts knowing exactly what the task is, regular reporting mechanisms back to the client, and we'll know what the deliverables are and what the outcomes are supposed to be, and all parties can measure iit against that. When the job's finished, the interim steps down and goes to another assignment.” Russam has noticed a change in the business use of interims. In many businesses, opportunities arise quickly and need to be taken advantage of quickly. Bringing in interim managers, who are fully qualified with the right skills, experience and personality traits within a number of days can be an ideal solution to many management challenges. “If it's a new initiative or venture, then a few months down the line both the interim manager and client can review the project and say, ‘Thank you very much. Job well done. What we need to do now is to recruit somebody to manage it, to be the chief executive of this initiative,’” he says. The experience gained with the work the interim manager has done enables a precise definition to be made of the sort of person they're looking for, on a long-term basis. As a parting gift, the interim manager sometimes helps recruit that person before he or she goes offsite. In years gone by, interim management was seen more as a distress purchase, or to fill a management gap. Although those two reasons still feature, Russam thinks that during this coming year, interim management will be more in demand for turnaround operations. Within Russam GMS itself, there is a special division called the Russam Business Network that is constantly in contact with many senior executives operating on an independent basis who have experience in turnarounds. This ranges from the insolvency practitioner approach to solid managing directors who have worked in businesses where they've improved the operations, turning loss into profit. Across Europe Each European country has its own legislative framework governing employment issues, as well as temporary labour and the use of consultants. Care has to be taken to configure the legalities of the assignment correctly in each European country when looking at assigning interim management on this basis. Some countries are keener on it than others too. Germany, for example, is growing strongly in the use of interim managers. France uses interims, but its employment legislation is stricter. On the other hand, Russam tells me that Eastern European countries generally speaking don't have a high use for interim managers because they have higher levels of unemployment, “so there’s a lot of in-country pressure to say, ‘Don't take on a temporary manager. Take on a permanent manager.’” Women in the business You might think that interim management sounds perfect for women who might be interested in short term, flexible assignments to fit with family commitments. And yet there is still a surprisingly low number of women in the industry: out of the 8000 execs registered with Russam GMS, only just over 10 percent are women. Taking a closer look at the assignments the firm has on the go at any one time, no more than 20 percent are handled by women. Conscious of this from the start, the firm has just started a ‘InterimWomen’ initiative, a website which launched in March. The aim of the initiative is to promote interim management to women and to promote women in the sector. In many ways, interim management is an ideal work style for women; for the intelligent, well-qualified, successful career woman who wants to reconcile skills and qualities with a work-life balance, it's a way of undertaking top assignments on a less permanent basis. When the assignment finishes after a number of months, the interim manager can have a break and then perhaps look around for another one. Another option is that many assignments can be handled on a part-time basis, which is again attractive to women. Russam is keen to stress that entry into this market is tough. “The background to this is that interim work isn't something that you can just pick up without any serious study of how the market works,” he warns. “Interim management providers only account for 50 percent of the market, so when an interim starts off they need to know how to approach the providers, and how to manage their own practice and develop it. That’s based on how professional firms market their organisations, but also on networking.” At the end of the day, says Russam, the principles are quite simple. You have to have a product: a professional product. You have to be good at it, and you have to know how to sell it, and interim management providers can help in those areas. Coming back to the topic of women in the sector, Russam is optimistic and dismisses any concerns I have about positive discrimination. “When we put women on our short list, which is quite frequently, they have a high proportion of acceptance, and many of them win jobs on a short list against men. It's very much a meritocracy.” Interim Management firsthand: Rachel Youngman tells us about her experiences on the front lines of interim management. Before entering the market of interim managing, I was employed for a number of years in a number of different roles. For five years I was Deputy Executive Director of the International Bar Association, which is a large organisation of lawyers, although my career has mostly been in the not for the profit sector. After working for the International Bar Association I decided that I needed to challenge myself and experience more diversity. I decided to take a leap of faith, jump out of the employment scene, set up on my own and start working independently. Of course there is an element of risk with that path, but it gives you challenges, good and bad. It gives you flexibility. It gives you diversity because you’re working across a number of different organisations. I work both as a consultant –in fact, that’s what I started doing – and then as an interim manager, operating at CEO level. To give you a most recent example, I just completed a five-month assignment as CEO of a national youth charity. You’ve got to be able to go in with a lot of experience and confidence behind you in order to achieve whatever the client wants from day one. Once you’re on assignment, it’s fairly hard work but obviously only for the period you’ve been retained. Then you leave, and then you move on to the next piece of work. I think that interim management is a good route for women to take into senior management, and also for people looking maybe for more flexibility in their lives, because you’re essentially running your own business. All interims operate through own limited company, so there is pressure on you to go out there get the work. Obviously there are more challenges in that respect than being permanently employed, where you go in, you do your job, and at the end of each month you get a pay cheque. Having said that, you’re in the driving seat running your own company, and you have more flexibility in what you want to do and when you want to do it. Once you’re on assignment, the pressure is as much – if not more – than anyone doing that job on a permanent basis. Coming from the legal profession, I’m used to working in a male-dominated industry. That’s changing. The world is changing in that more women are wanting to remain employed in some way after having a family and interim management is a great option. In the charity and public sector – certainly the charity sector – it’s not uncommon to find women at senior positions. I do a lot of networking and I’ve met many senior professional women who are working in the private sector, both on a permanent basis and as interims and consultants. It’s all out there for women, but we all make our own choices. Working in the way I do, I have to be very motivated, and I find that other women doing this type of work are equally motivated. For me it’s not a part-time career – it could be if you wanted it to ¬– but most of the women I meet have a lot of experience behind them. What they’re doing is working in a different way, but still with all the challenges and so forth that you get when you are working at senior level. About Rachel Youngman Interim Management can provide that golden combination of a more flexible work and lifestyle, combined with a highly challenging and lucrative career. For more, please see www.InterimWomen.com |
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New networking site launched for female
interim managers A website aimed at promoting women working as interim managers has been launched.
She went on to add that one of the key goals was to encourage networking and provide a level of support for Interims, "as it can be a lonely profession". |
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InterimWomen - the first Network for Women Working as Interim Managers Launches InterimWomen, www.interimwomen.com, a new forum promoting women working as Interim Managers, sponsored by Interim Management Provider Russam GMS and Talent Management specialist, Cedar TM is launching today. The first of its kind in the Interim Management industry; InterimWomen will support women working as Interim Managers and aims to encourage more female executives to become Interim Managers.Russam GMS believes there is a real gap in the market for a support network for women working as Interim Managers. There are far fewer women than men in the profession at present and it hopes that the forum will not only promote the benefits of working as an Interim, but help readdress this issue and achieve a more equal gender balance in the industry. The website will provide a resource for women working as Interim Managers and those who are starting out in the profession. It will include industry news, tips from those working in the industry, research, event listings, guides for getting ahead in Interim Management, as well as success stories. A new mentoring service will also be central to the InterimWomen initiative. Those new to the profession will be able to apply online at www.interimwomen.com for an ‘interim buddy’ and will be put in touch with up to three experienced Interim Managers in their area. Practice will vary but Mentors will provide advice and a great sounding board to ensure that the leap into the Interim world is not too daunting. This service is free, but Interims should bear in mind that Mentors would be helping because they want to and for no financial reward. Marta Matajz, the Chair of Interim Women and Director of Client Liaison for CEDAR Talent Management states, “More women than ever before are becoming Interim managers, seeing it as a great way of combining a stimulating and challenging career with a better work/life balance. But, there still a large imbalance between the numbers of male and female interims and this is something we want to change through InterimWomen. We want more women to embrace the exciting opportunities that exist for Interims in the current business climate.” “One of the key goals is to encourage networking and provide a level of support for Interims as it can be a lonely profession. We will host a series of networking events - the next one being a breakfast seminar on 10th April at The Athenæum club in London so that women in the profession can meet and share their ideas and exchange experiences. |
