Interim management: a brief history

In just a few decades, interim management has evolved from a practical response to constrictive employment law to become a strategic approach to executive resourcing.

Interim management is widely used throughout Europe and is increasingly practiced in other major trading blocks. The UK has become established as the centre of excellence in the use of interim managers and its interim management market is now estimated to be worth billions of pounds a year. In 2006 alone, over 1200 assignments were completed by members of the UK’s Interim Management Association – like Alium.

In the early years of interim management, the majority of assignments were ‘gap fillers’, holding the fort for a period, a safe pair of hands. Today, however, businesses are using interim managers to work in a more strategic capacity and their skills are being utilised to drive through major change and transformation programmes.

A recent Ipsos MORI survey for the Interim Management Association (2007) found that some 70 per cent of assignments in the public and private sectors were for change, programme and project management, as well as business improvement. In addition, the survey found that:

• Assignments still vary in length, from a few weeks to over a year, but trends show that contracts are gradually becoming longer: the average duration of an interim manager’s contract in 2007 was around 133 days, as opposed to 107 days in 2006.
• The cost of an interim manager ranges between £500 and over £1,500 a day (excluding providers’ fees, expenses and VAT).

Your questions answered:

How do interim managers work and fit in to my business?

Who becomes an interim manager?

How do I appoint an interim manager?