The widespread use of 'interim manager'

By Pri Notowidigdo

JAKARTA (JP): Our rapidly changing economy in Indonesia is leading organizations to expand and contract their workforce according to demand.

What has emerged is a widespread use of contracting out work and the rise of "interim managers."

What is an "interim manager"?

Margaret Coles, a journalist who specializes in management issues, describes an interim manager as "a new breed of corporate person who steps in on short notice, sorts out problems, sets up operations or fills whatever gap that suddenly appeared in the management structure."

The interim manager provides an effective solution to corporate crises or other managerial issues of finding resources.

The organization hires a qualified, highly experienced, freelance executive and drops him into a business dilemma, and provides him with a specific mandate and a limited length of time to implement it.

The interim manager can play diverse roles. He can bridge a gap or fill one while an organization is looking for a permanent manager. He can also manage a crisis following an unexpected departure or death of a senior employee. He can take charge of a specific project such as a factory move.

Or, he can be a troubleshooter and manage a turnaround, especially for a company in trouble.

You may now be asking: "Aren't we talking about management consultants?" No, there's a difference. Consultants, in general, offer recommendations and strategic planning.

The role of an interim manager is to implement, in the short term, but with a view to the long-term interests of the client.

Consultants often have little experience in implementation. Yet, this is increasingly what clients are demanding. And, to be fair to consultants like myself, major consultancy firms are aware of this and have taken appropriate measures to increase implementation as well.

Apart from the benefits to organizations, interim management also meets the individual's desire for autonomy and appeals to the successful, experienced professional with entrepreneurial spirit.

Take the case of Pak Hari Mussinggih (not his real name), a senior information technology professional. He was fired at the age of 56 and became an interim manager at 57.

"When I was fired, my first reaction was to get another full- time job, which I did," he says.

"But I could see that I was going to be out of a job again in about one and a half years. When I reflected on my career, I realized that what I was really good at was managing change. However, once the change was in place, a different type of manager was needed. That meant that I was going to be looking for a new job every one and a half to two years."

Pak Hari's response was to offer his services as an interim manager and position himself as "The Portable CIOtm".

The first few assignments came from networking. After a while, he became visible in the market and was often approached by senior executive search consultants, like myself, for interim management responsibilities with their corporate clients.

An advantage for Pak Hari was that prospective employers regarded his age as value added.

Pak Hari found that while there were often other candidates who were younger and had better academic qualifications, what the clients saw in him was his greater experience.

For the individual like Pak Hari, or maybe like yourself, a number of valuable lessons were learned from being an interim manager.

One lesson Pak Hari learned was the value of maintaining a balance between learning and doing, and very importantly, of planning ahead to create options.

Another lesson was to use the flexibility, which comes from taking greater charge of your own career path, to ensure a healthy balance between work and your personal life -- social, domestic, health and general development of the mind.

A third lesson was the power of networks. Almost every career move he made and all the most interesting jobs he did, came through knowing someone or being known.

A career as an interim manager is not for everyone. If you value security, an ordered and disciplined life and are not adventurous, then it will certainly not be for you.

Yet for an increasing number of seasoned managers, interim management is going to be a significant part of their future.

Perhaps it will be for you.

The writer is an executive search consultant with Amrop International, The Amrop Hever Group, an organization that seeks senior executives worldwide. (e-mail: jakarta@amrophever.com)