Who are the CandidateS? What can they do?

The AIEA-Jobs Candidates

All candidates sourced through the free AIEA-Jobs are certified members of the Australasian Interim Executive Association. Naturally, 100% of the members will accept an interim role.

Here’s how they may be utilised to the benefit of your organisation:

• Departure of a Key Executive
• Project Management
• Change Management
• Crisis Management
• Initial Public Offerings and Management Buy Outs
• Mergers and Acquisitions

There are several factors that make interim management a powerful resourcing option:

1. Speed. Interim managers can be in place within days as opposed to weeks
2. Experience. Interim managers will be more than qualified for the position they are taking on. They have past experience of similar challenges to draw on.
3. Objectivity. Interim managers are unencumbered by any previous involvement in company processes or staff relationships. They provide a fresh perspective and are free to concentrate on what's best for the business.
4. Accountability. Interim managers are not advisors or management consultants, they are responsible and accountable line managers who will implement and manage a business or project in their own right.
5. Effectiveness. Operating at or near board-level gives interim management the authority to achieve results and effect significant change or transition within a company - unlike a consultant.
6. Commitment. Interim managers are committed to an interim career. They enjoy the challenge of the different assignments and take great pride in maintaining the highest standards and realise that they are only ever as good as their last assignment.
   Let’s look at those deployment options in more detail:
   

Departure of a Key Executive

• Companies find themselves having to deal with a senior level resignation at short notice. An interim executive can move into the vacant role quickly and smoothly. By maintaining its momentum, the company then has the time it needs to find a suitable permanent replacement for the position. 
• Often, the permanent role is filled by the interim manager when it suits both parties as 58% of the members will consider a permanent employee role. There is no better way of on-boarding a new executive-team member than converting from an interim to a permanent placement.

Project Management

Companies wish to undertake a major strategic project and find they have insufficient internal resources to effectively manage the project or are reluctant to take existing staff away from their current responsibilities. Interim managers provide the solution to the resourcing problem.

Change Management

• Companies today, have to deal with change. The reasons are many and varied: new systems; cultural turnaround; new government legislation; introduction of innovative new production processes; competitive challenges; taking on a major new contract.  These are just a few of the situations that could result in a company having to review the way in which it works. Many involve a considerable amount of staff upheaval and the revision of working practices - often with the unfortunate effect of creating a great deal of uncertainty amongst personnel.  
• Interim managers are an excellent alternative (in particular to consultants) for any company that is about to undertake a major project but either has insufficient internal resources to effectively manage the project or is reluctant to take existing staff away from their current responsibilities.
• Being more than qualified for the position, and therefore stepping down into their role, an Interim management is guaranteed to have the skills and experience necessary to lead the project and ensure that the required results are delivered. And, because the assignment has a finite timescale, there is no-one to ‘let go' or re-deploy at the end of the project.
• In addition to a wealth of experience of similar scenarios, an interim manager can also provide a fresh perspective on the situation. Unencumbered by the baggage of previous processes and uninvolved in existing staff relationships, they have an unbiased and impartial outlook and can therefore concentrate on what's best for the company.

Crisis Management

• This could take many forms. It could be the Managing Director of a poorly performing family business suddenly resigns and leaves to set up a competitive operation. The Chairman realises that the incumbent management team are too inexperienced to take on the vacant role and is unsure of the best course of action to take.
• An interim executive would be able to step in quickly, using his experience of similar situations to protect the company from any competitive threat and to affect a turnaround in the company's fortunes. He could also mentor one of the existing managers and help to groom them to take over his role once the interim assignment has come to an end.

Initial Public-Offerings and Management-Buy-Outs

• When dealing with an MBO or an IPO, it is not unusual for the directors to have had little or no previous experience of how to effectively manage what will undoubtedly be a complicated corporate restructuring process. A floatation in particular is generally regarded as being one of the pivotal events in a company's history and brings with it responsibility to a whole new set of investors and shareholders. Therefore, the timing, size and structure of an IPO are absolutely crucial to its success.
• Appointing an interim manager who has a track record of dealing with such situations will instantly provide the level of experience and knowledge needed to safeguard a company from some of the major pitfalls that have historically proved to be all too common in these situations. Additionally, by augmenting the existing team, an interim manager can provide that ‘extra pair of hands' that will doubtless prove invaluable when dealing with the inevitable increase in workload.

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Mergers and acquisitions have emerged as being a key area for the assignment of interim managers. Both invariably involve a certain degree of corporate restructuring and possible resource and location issues - and an interim manager could prove to be indispensable during such a crucial period.
• For either process to be a successful and smooth one, critical strategic and financial decisions have to be made and it is therefore paramount to have somebody in place with sufficient experience, insight and focus to implement these. During deal negotiations in particular, the input of an independent viewpoint is often found to be invaluable.
• Additionally, during an acquisition there may not be a suitable internal candidate who could immediately take control of the new company. In these circumstances, an interim manager would be able to undertake the day to day running of the business until a permanent replacement could be appointed.
• Similarly, during a merger, bringing in a temporary manager who is external to the companies involved can greatly assist in a smooth restructuring process - particularly when there is the potential for conflict amongst ‘resident' CEOs.