The ambition of any promoter is to raise his company to high standards and make it more competitive. Interim management is today an interesting solution to the many challenges that decision-makers must face at various levels within organizations. This term is current but still misunderstood by many managers who should normally take advantage of it to improve their performance. Here is the essential to remember.
Transition management: which definition should we use?
A system whose role is to find solutions to specific problems in companies and to operate and implement changes, transition management contributes to improving the company’s performance and its competitiveness in the market. Thus, it offers companies the possibility of benefiting in the short term from certain managerial skills to manage specific situations and advance the company from level A to level B.
Also called interim management, this managerial mechanism first appeared in the Netherlands in the 1970s and began to spread to France in the 2000s. Today, it has become an irreversible way to make changes within organizations. But the fact is that you have to know how to go about choosing a competent interim manager to do the job.
Transition management therefore consists of the company calling on a professional, a transition manager, to lead the company through a process of change. For example, their mission may be to:
- support the company in emerging from the crisis,
- implement a social plan to safeguard jobs,
- find a way to increase the productivity of the company,
- offer managers a management model adapted to the needs of the company….
What are the skills and missions of a good interim manager?
The job of interim manager is not everyone’s prerogative. Interim management is a sensitive enough field to choose any profile. Indeed, the life of the company depends on it.
The manager chosen by the company to lead the transition missions must have a broad and deep pool of talent. He must therefore have the qualifications and proven experience to ensure a perfect match between the company’s needs and the resources it has available. Whatever the level of the stakes, the sole objective of the latter must be the success of the transition management project entrusted to him.
The interim manager’s missions can be summed up in three essential areas, namely:
- supporting the company in the start of a phase of change (restructuring, growth, new projects, etc.),
- the contribution of added value on human, financial, technical, managerial levels, etc.,
- behavioral change with a real impact on corporate culture, processes, working methods, systems, etc.
To successfully carry out such a project, most companies, whatever their size (SMEs, large companies or international groups) now use a firm capable of providing them with skills in the field of transitional management where their need is felt.
How to choose your interim management firm?
The firm must first and foremost aim to support and introduce change within the company, in a context of acceleration. In addition to having transition managers with multiple skills, it must be able to provide managers with the benefits of the transition management system, which are:
- cost control and return on investment,
- the use of innovative methodologies resulting from in-depth analyses,
- the involvement of workers, in a co-construction approach….
