Functions of Interim Managers

Interim Managers are hired for the most diverse functions in a company. On the one side, there is the general management who organizes and controls the entire enterprise. On the other side, there are special task areas like, for example, production, HR or controlling.

Interim Managers are specialized in any of the afore-mentioned areas and can support a company with its success due to their long-standing expertise.

Here are some examples of former successful placements:

General management is one of the most sought after work areas for Interim Managers, especially during the restructuring phase of companies. The right choice of managing director/CEO is most important so that planning, organization, leading and control lead to success.

Control and planning of financial matters are the backbone of any company. CFOs or commercial managers who are responsible for all areas of finance (i. e. accounting, controlling, treasury, and liquidity protection) are a strong support for a company in this context.

In practice, this includes e.g. the preparation of a finance plan to secure liquidity during future periods respectively to make looming deficits transparent.

Production offers hidden potential which companies do not (cannot) always see and use. In order to increase productivity in this field, apart from “production generalists”, there are experts who are specialized in many different materials and composites as well as production processes who work as freelancers. Methods which are used the most for improving processes and achieving systematic organization of production are “Lean Production” or “Six Sigma”. Interim Managers are also the proper experts for this.

Interim Managers assist with the selection and implementation of solutions when it comes to building new production sites, finding fresh ideas for product innovations, reducing failure rate, machine utilizations and many more technical problems

Timely provision of required components is the key factor in supply chain management, material management and purchase so that production does not stall. One further key aspect is the optimization of warehousing. Here, the golden rule is: The fewer materials or end products a company stores, the less capital is tied up.

These topics gain importance more and more since often, profit cannot be increased by higher prices but only by internal reduction of costs.

Due to their vast and long-term experience, Interim Managers immediately reveal weak points in the processes. They make suggestions on how to optimize respectively reorganize and actively support implementation.

Sales and marketing are elementary areas: If customers do not purchase a product or do not make use of a service, a company is in trouble. Therefore, it is imperative that companies follow elaborate marketing strategies and that sales work professionally and customer-oriented.

Interim Managers are like a breath of fresh air with their expertise as they break up any established process and structure within sales and marketing and fill in fresh ideas.

Areas of responsibility are manifold in HR – it ranges from recruitment to staff training, wages and salaries to outsourcing and downsizing.

There are specialists for each of these areas of HR. Naturally, there are also Interim Managers who are versatile and cover the entire range of HR – like an HR manager.

Often, companies hire HR managers ad interim for unpleasant tasks, like for example, downsizing or creating a social plan. This is especially sensible if a new manager joins up. If his first official act is downsizing, it will be all the more difficult in future to achieve a positive reputation with members of staff.

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