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Over the last two months I have been speaking to more Interim Managers that are getting frustrated with over complicated hiring processes that are based on a “recruitment = one size fits all” approach. It appears that these processes seem to be increasingly accepted by some hiring companies and some Interim Management providers (who I understand are just trying to secure more work for Interim Managers on their database).
I am also seeing more and more career Interim Managers that are carefully selecting a small amount of “go to market” Interim providers that know them as individuals, understand their approach and can effectively communicate their method of delivering results to clients.
Given your experiences over the last couple of years, do you think that true Interim Management is getting lost in recruitment?
Mark Kitchen is Head of Business & Support Services for Interim Partners.
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January 24th, 2012 at 8:48 am
Hi Mark,
I wholly endorse your comments about interims getting lost in the recruitment process. Having had longer term interim roles in the last 3-4 years I have been quite shocked at how unbelievably bad the process has become in securing a new assignment. This is not just sour grapes or a rant.
The plethora of yes there is a role/ no there’s not/ well maybe send us some CV’s, we want an interim/ we’ve appointed from inside, can we have some CV’s then no response and having met a company just nil feedback. Not at all a differentiator in building an employment brand.
What are HR doing in all this? My perception is there does not seem to be much value in this activity more like abdication of standards.
As an HR interim I am beginning to think the interim market has peaked or even changed and the way to market is network contacts to death and use as you indicate known and trusted consultants.
I wonder if some in house HRD’s have a different viewpoint?
Philip
January 24th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Hi Philip,
Thank you for your interesting comments. Also thank you for setting the intension of the blog by saying that it is not a rant, I think that the topic should be discussed but without anyone using the blog to air any grievances.
It would be great to hear a comment from an in house HRD / Head of Talent. I often wonder how internal teams view hiring Interims compared to hiring senior contractors.
Mark
January 26th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
A RANT FREE ZONE BELOW:
In answer to Marks question: YES
My most recent experience in sourcing “proper” interim contracts has been significantly different (worse) compared with 9 / 10 out of the last 11 years. It used to be the case (and I know the world has changed!)that you get a call for a requirement, meet within the most a few days, decision made and then you start (or not as the case may be). Most lately the decisions seem to be getting clogged up with “internal processes” and less focus upon getting the interim in and a plan of action underway. Mark and I have recently(ish) worked on some assignments that did not work out for me because of “fit”…but some others (with not “true” Interim providers, I admit) have fallen foul of the “normal” recruitment processes. I find it difficult to believe (especially in these “austere & straitened times”) that the fundamental requirement for interims has changed: (as in: We have a problem, lets sort it out, lets bring in expertise to identify solution and solve it). Just reinforces my view that its largely about forging relationships with key providers as ones main thrust for sourcing that next challenge.
Brian
January 27th, 2012 at 8:31 am
Mark, yes I do sense that true Interim Management is getting lost in something (that something may be called recruitment, I am not certain)
Interim Management, like any service or product, evolves and emerges as everyday influences take place, you cannot plan for it to be a certain thing no more that you can plan to win the lottery, nevertheless, as we are all influencing factors in the evolution process, maybe we should be making more effort?
To just accept how interim management is treated by those who treat it, is a very slippery slope, nevertheless, human nature is to survive, if that means compromise on the short term in the hope that survival in the longer term has more longevity, that’s the way it is.
What emerges in everyday life is as a result of interactions and responses between people, what we see currently emerging is the power of the client being superior to the provider, almost to the degree that it is take it or leave it.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:31 am
In my experience it’s certainly true that ‘recruitment’ of interims has been generally a much slower process over the last couple of years. One interesting assignment last year went to 3 interviews over 2 and a half months before the FTSE100 client decided to postpone their transformation programme. I think the slow down has partly been because of more rigorous internal processes in client companies trying to ensure they exercise more controls over spending in difficult times. I’ve seen additional approvals invoked in the interim hiring process. In a number of companies the hiring of interims now seems to require approvals through both HR and procurement processes. Although the permanent recruitment processes also seem to have slowed down, I share the concern that one effect of this is to reduce the visibility of the value of professional interim management
January 27th, 2012 at 9:47 am
Brian, thank you for your comments. I am sure that you and I will work together in the future (hopefully soon).
January 27th, 2012 at 10:00 am
Donald, thank you for your comment.
You raise a good point about interactions and responses between people. As recruitment is a people business, perhaps it’s the strength of relationship between the provider and client that determines the Interim recruitment process.
Should Interim Managers qualify this relationship before agreeing to be included on a shortlist?
January 27th, 2012 at 10:06 am
I think it has always always been like this. I started in 1991, and am member #1 of the IIM. It is probably worse now as there are more out of work at the moment, and recruiters are having a bad time – a buyers market.
So many intermediaries have come and gone, including recruitment agencies looking for a quick buck and who have damaged and diluted the industry over the years. A good interim is the antithesis of a good corporate soldier, and many just don’t see this or really care.
Since very poor experiences in the early days, I have focussed on keeping in touch with the few top Interim Agencies that do not try to mix interim with recruitment.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Mark,
As a relatively recent interim I agree with your comments, however the issues seem to be broader in terms of what interim management is being defined as.
My experience is that the recruitment process can go from one meeting and hired “on the spot” to processes that stretch over weeks with the inclusion of psychometrics and aptitude tests.
However “recruiting” companies and some interim providers seem to struggle to differentiate between fixed term contracts and interim provision. I had one major company Group HRD insist that providing a salary, bonus, car allowance and pension through their payroll for twelve months was an “interim contract” and couldn’t understand why as an interim working via my limited company I had a problem with that.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:22 am
Iain, Thank you for your comment.
I think that Interim Programme Directors have been affected the most by the change in interim hiring processes. I am also seeing larger consultancy firms delivering programmes which is arguably more expensive but perceived as less risky by the client sponsor.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:40 am
Mike, thank you for your comment.
If after 20 years Interim Management experience you are just focussed on working with the few top Interim Agencies, your tried and tested approach is good enough for me.
January 27th, 2012 at 10:40 am
It has certainly been very frustrating over the last three months with many of the positions starting out as “very hot” and requiring an immediate start only to be caught up in a slow recruitment process and ultimately being cancelled or filled internally.
January 27th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Mark, my best (best fit, best experience) past 5 assignments have been, in part I guess, due to the good relationship and the understanding of that relationship the Interim provider had / has with the client.
When I ask an interim provider to discuss in detail, the roles put to me, what the culture is decribed as (from the client perspective), and what the client expects to see as the deliverables as the assignment unfolds, the good ones can and do elaborate, the not so good ones (I am being kind) do not have a clue.
This is clearly a differentiating factor in my experience which should be leveraged.
January 27th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
The last 2 years in my personal experience have seen radical shifts of which I see the Recruiters entering Interim as just one facette.
Firstly, for all the redundancies and cut-backs of executives through 2008/10, the unemployed executives saw “interim” as an attractive way to get some money.
The recruitment agencies saw, “interim” as a way to offer to clients and place potential employees in safer temporary contracts. If the position and occupant worked out then the reward was a permanent contract. But that is what the “interim” and the recruitment agency and the client wanted in the first place.
All of this has nothing to do with true Interim Management.
For true Interim Management, now as before – stick to the tried and true agencies and, as always, network like mad and sell, sell, sell. After 17 years, I dont really see a lot has changed.
January 27th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
I’ve read through the blogs and having had a similar experience yesterday truly puts into focus the problems surrounding the hiring process of Interims, and unique “feedback”, at least in my experience, on why the answer was “no” this time, I couldn’t believe it.
Just to say this is not a rant although my frustration is fresh. I’ve been an Interim IT Project Portfolio Manager since 1999. Up until 3 years ago or so, I echo some of the comments by endorsing the fact you got a call, you briefly discuss, CV’s are sent, the hiring company contact recognises you can add value/fix problems, you meet for an hour and you start.
My particular recent experience, the client couldn’t get a permanent candidate with the right skills, so thought I know I’ll get an Interim see how it works out then try to hirer him, this is fine I recognise it and it works sometimes.
I get a call the client wants to see me, they are launching a new product/service that I’ve launched successfully for other clients in the past. The agency offers me interview “slots” 1 week and 2 weeks into the future, apparantly the hiring managers have little time to interview (alarm bells start ringing”).
I go for the soonest slot,I have 45 minutes, as their time is apparantly precious, I prepare a 6 page PowerPoint presentation answering all the common questions, I supply hardcopy examples of plans, I supply mindmapping examples as this is a new service/launch of the key points with answers.
I travel 3 hours to get there, we meet, I present, everyone is polite – clearly they are looking at me to see if I could become a perm guy.
The next day, I get the call, we all know what’s coming by the tone of voice, we’ve all had it, “to senior”, “we’ve decided to promote someone internally” , ” no budget” etc……wait for it I got ” Chris presented very well, but we felt we couldn’t ask any questions?” Yep, I’m sitting opposite the Director of this, the Director of that and collectively they felt they were unable to say “stop”, “hold a hand up”, jump in etc…..! Absolutely amazing!
Anyway, it wasn’t a rant just an example of how HR/interviewing techniques seem now always to be in the format of a permanent guy that won’t be a threat!
January 27th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
I think that the interim manager role has been diminished in the last 4 years, due to the financial crisis changing the landscape of interim management. 1) Head-hunters of permanent people saw their demand diminishing and started to offer interim managers to their clients, without understanding that an interim manager should be call in to solve an issue and not to fill the role of a permanent person. A lot of civil servants being made redundant call themselves interim manager and flooded the market with lower fees and hoping for a permanent job.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
interim or recruitment or any other product – The issue that is not going to go away is that the traditional linear sales process is so multi channel causing requirement, volume of applications and solution to evolve so fast, that it is no longer a “manageable process”. The key is still to manage a vast web of close relationships with those where there is a close fit. Long gone is the shotgun or linear sales approach. regards Tom
January 27th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
Dead right,
Still so many agencies not really understanding how adaptable an interim can be. My last 3 assignments – manufacturing, aviation, and financial services but frequently told you have not worked in this sector by agencies. Yet when you talk direct to an MD it is skills based
January 28th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Tony Liedl, 28 January,2012
Quite frankly I don’t believe the interim market in UK really took off at any time. Since 2008 the situation has deteriorated markedly further for the numerous reasons already stated. “Fear” in client companies is probably top of the agenda.First, client companies not understanding what interim is about. Second, making wrong decisions which jeopardise their own jobs, budgetsand aggravate political factions within organisations. All this contributes to covering your back by getting as many signatures on a recruitment document as possible which involves all the procedural carry on that goes with it.
Personally I have spent most of the last 8 years or so working in Eastern Europe.
I note there are no lady interims out there with comments. What, do you think, is the significance of this?
Tony Liedl
January 30th, 2012 at 10:49 am
As a ‘Lady’ interim, I agree with much of the above!
Michael Ware particularly struck a chord regarding the difference between ‘Recruiter’ views of transferable skills and in house senior manager views! I have frequently found myself having to explain my work to recruiters who are clearly sitting with a tick box list hoping to match my words to their criteria without any contextual understanding of what my abilities are or the company actually needs! Those recruiters who do not CLEARLY stand out head and shoulders above the rest.
In my experience, the blurring between ‘interim’ and ‘recruitment’ approach hinders the interim applicant as there is often a sense of fear / paranoia around bringing in someone clearly experienced, qualified and excellent to fill a role – I’m frequently reminded of the old adage “First rate managers hire first rate people, second rate managers hire third rate people”. In this market, I suspect many permanent managers are concerned with their own job security and prospects and to contract with ‘excellence’ over recruiting a “corporate soldier” is seen as a serious threat. Often it can be as much about lack of organisational/departmental willingness to change/adapt and taking a ‘firefighting’ stance than opening up to genuine progressive transformation.
January 31st, 2012 at 3:36 pm
Mark,
My recent experience supports your hypothesis. I still believe that many hiring organisations do not understand how the interim market, hence one size fits all.
I have had recent experiences where prospective clients wanted to hire on a PAYE rather than consultancy (i.e. limited company) basis. This is a more expensive option which, for me, demonstrates that many hiring managers still do not understand the full costs associated with each scenario.
What’s your experience?
February 1st, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Very definitely is the answer.
My experience is that the distinction between interim managers and permanent staff is being lost. Interim assignments should be task driven with clear deliverables and schedules. These days assignment briefs read more and more like permanent job descriptions and the recruitment process is becoming very similar with no urgency, many steps and a reliance on cvs.
One way in which the cv influence has affected matters is the increasing requirement that the interim has operated in the relevant market sector previously. Historically the key requirements were the skill set to complete the assignment and the ability to make things happen quickly. Now it seems more important to have many years’ experience in the relevant industry.
Intermediaries have changed dramatically over recent years and there are many more of them. Organisations and staff capable of selling the interim proposition have disappeared and many of the new breed do not understand the market.
One key distinction is that interim managers must be capable of making a difference immediately. This idea is being lost by large parts of the market and some intermediaries appear to be quite happy to accept the permanent employee who wants some temporary work whilst he/she finds a new permanent position.
The solution? Interims must undertake much more direct marketing to companies and be very selective in which (limited number of) intermediaries they use. There are many out there who I would not let near my cv!
February 15th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
I think there are two factors at work here:
Firstly, there is a blurring of the lines between interim, contract and permanent recruitment, as combination of onerous employment rules, commercial turbulence and financial uncertainty mean that companies increasingly seek to fill what used to be permanent roles in a more flexible way. My last assignment started out looking a lot like a traditional ‘VP of Sales’ job, but it became clear that it would work better all round as a ‘transform our culture and then go away’ interim role.
Secondly, the current business and financial climate is making decision-makers nervous on all fronts, whether in hiring (interim or permanent) or in other areas such as investment in new technology. Previously decisive and forward-looking executives are now hesitating and second-guessing themselves, and often this is expressed in ‘displacement activities’ like requesting extra meetings, references or tests.
One cure that can be tried is the ‘puppy-dog’ sale – in many circumstances an interim can offer a the reassurance of proposing a short initial commitment that can turn into a longer assignment when effectiveness has been demonstrated.