History of Interim Management
Interim management is a relatively new industry with a short history.
It began in the Netherlands in the 1970s in response to restrictive Dutch labour laws. It was created by the Dutch to inject more flexibility into the market place. At that time, companies faced long notice periods for employees and often had to incur large costs while changing their most expensive people who formed the management. Thus the concept of interim management where managers were brought in for temporary purposes for crucial roles was born.
The concept was beneficial for organisations and soon began to gain popularity in other parts of the world. In the late 1980s it was introduced in the UK. A low-profile idea without much media hype, it is only now that interim management is recognized as a separate discipline and is gaining momentum in other countries like Germany and Belgium.
Initially when the trend began of hiring interim managers, they were termed as company doctors. Here their role comprised of identifying problems and leading organisations through times of economical and development upheaval. Slowly it began to grow in role and responsibility. Organisations soon began to hire managers to fill in temporary vacant positions
Then interim managers began to be taken in as consultants to manage projects, manage change, provide additional support and improve business performance. Many managers have today formed consortia or set up their own organisations to ease processes and improve workflow.
In the more recent history of interim management (say in the last ten years) the industry has expanded its role and short-term experienced executives are increasingly being hired to manage a broader range of disciplines in organisations and also to head projects. They span all industries ranging from technology to marketing, sales and finance, telecommunications and recruitment.
Even though organisations hire specialists in every discipline required, it is being fast understood that interim managers can provide better insights to manage organisational change as they are typically organisation outsiders and have unbiased points of view. Also they can work at flexible hours and provide cost effective on-time answers to business problems. The future of interim management lies more in project-based assignments as companies outsource more projects outside the realm of their business.
Despite the phenomenal change it brings, interim management still deserves wider recognition than it is getting today. Also many companies are still reluctant to recruit interims due to doubts like workplace challenges, business environment threats and threat of loss of control, areas that interim management needs to address and find solutions to.
Executive Interims - Supply Chain Practice is driving to further develop its important role within the history of interim management by delivering substantial improvements for our client's organisations.
View Wikipedia's article for more information on the background and history of interim management.
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