In the meantime

Interim managers are, in part, consultants but, significantly, take charge of implementing their own advice. They are senior executives and professionals brought in by organisations on short-term assignments to manage change, improve performance or to introduce new technical, financial, HR or IT initiatives.

A new industry-wide survey has revealed that engineering and manufacturing companies are currently the main users of interim managers - and demand is growing. Almost 20 per cent of all full-time interim assignments and another 18 per cent of part-time appointments are in engineering and manufacturing, compared with 12 per cent in the public sector and 10 per cent in banking/finance and insurance.

Managing change

The not so good finding of the survey, carried out by one of the leading providers/agencies, Russam GMS, is that the daily fee rate (£377) earned by interim managers in manufacturing and engineering is some way below the top rate earned by, for example, IT (£550) or financial specialists (£499).

Seasoned executives with a strong professional background are increasingly brought in by companies for change management projects, especially when there is no surplus talent internally to divert to such tasks.

A few examples illustrate how widely experienced engineers are attracted back to tackle challenging short-term projects. Gary Brannigan, a chartered engineer, has been an interim manager for the last three years, latterly working on very short-term assignments. One of his last six-month assignments was with Strata Technology, the engineering arm of BP Amoco, where he advised on and implemented project-based management for a programme of projects. Before this he carried out a 22-month assignment as project auditor for a funding management.

'As an interim manager, you have to get used to never knowing when and where the next assignment is likely to come from,' he admits. 'Finding the right assignments right now in my experience is actually harder. The key to success as an interim manager is confidence. You've got to be familiar with the industry you're going into and be able to hit the ground running in the first 24 hours. There's never time to sit around.'

Malcolm Parkinson is a chartered mechanical engineer who began his career with Perkins Engines, becoming chief production methods engineer before joining Austin Morris group as production manager/group industrial engineer. From 1993 to 1995 he was md of the Mechanical Handling Division of The 600 group. For the last 10 months, to release a director for other duties, he has worked as operations director for the UK part of an international group manufacturing machinery for consumer and professional markets. At the same time he acts as business coach to a young, £6million turnover, assembly operation of access equipment.

'For the type of job I am doing at the moment, I am probably over-qualified,' Parkinson says. 'It's my third assignment. I really enjoy the variety.' Being over-qualified and liking the variety are views often expressed by interim managers.

Multiskilled engineers

Most assignments with a strong engineering content also increasingly call for financial and marketing acumen. When Chris Power took on a 15-month assignment for a subsidiary of Kingfisher he had to manage the design, production, distribution and sales of a security tag intended to protect retail items against shoplifting/retail theft. He was responsible for re-engineering the product portfolio, establishing business operations in UK, Europe, USA and Japan and for overall management and financial control.

Obviously there are pros and cons in interim management, both for the interim executive and for the client. Downsizing has left many organisations stretched and in some cases still uncertain whether bringing in an interim can deal with fundamental longer-term problems.

For the interim or would-be interim, self-marketing and operating as a serious small business is often the key - for example, working with two or three reputable providers/agencies and building and maintaining your own client contacts. A lot of hands-on experience and a proven track record are vital, as is being prepared when necessary to work 12 hours a day. It's certainly not for people planning early retirement.

Wilf Altman is a freelance journalist specialising in management issues