Chairman's Welcome

Tony Evans

Welcome to the Institute of Interim Management. We are the only independent UK body serving the interests of Interim practitioners on an international basis. Our membership is accredited and offers the client organisation the comfort of a level of quality delivery and an Interim who has positively signed up to a code of professional conduct. Our remit is to meet the needs of individual practitioners, so that they are best placed to obtain assignments either through top quality Providers or by their own marketing activities.

So whether you are:

• A Practising or aspiring Interim Manager
• An organisation currently utilising or considering this highly effective resourcing tool, or
• A Provider of Interim services,

and, wherever you are based around the globe, I hope you will find our services of interest and that the Institute and our members can address your needs.

The Growing Impact of the IIM

Created by Interim Managers for Interim Managers, and with the support of industry leaders and champions of management, we are helping to shape the future of our profession by ensuring that our Members adhere to the highest standards of performance and integrity whilst providing a voice for the professional Interim Manager. The IIM has a number of key objectives:

• Championing Professional Quality Standards
• Promoting Industry Recognition
• Providing a Forum for Communication
• Supplying Practical Support and Advice
• Encouraging Continuing Professional Development

• Influencing Relevant Regulatory Activity

We are a vibrant organisation, working closely with other major professional bodies, organisations and leading Interim Providers, in the UK and overseas, to maintain standards in the provision of Interim services. We are dedicated to raising the awareness and understanding of Interim management as a recognised professional discipline and valuable resourcing tool.

We welcome individual members, affiliates, and corporate sponsors. We are always interested to hear from organisations with complementary goals and look for ways of working together for mutual benefit.

Increasingly Interim Managers are looking for a way of differentiating themselves as dedicated professionals. Our rigorous set of accreditation standards for entry ensures that as a professional Interim Manager, your IIM membership is recognised as having an approved level of qualification, experience and competence, both as a Manager and as an Interim and indeed helps you to ‘Stand out from the Crowd’ . Membership of the IIM also acts as an endorsement to prospective clients, a key differentiator in today’s highly competitive Interim marketplace.

As members or sponsors, you recognise the importance of this invaluable professional discipline, its contribution to the UK economy and business environment, and you will be supporting an Institute that is committed to driving best practice in the provision of Interim management solutions, for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Interim Management - a high value-added business solution

As organisations continue to search for solutions to address the escalating competitive and economic pressures for business survival in domestic and global markets, they have not only had to redefine themselves in terms of entity – ‘think global: act local, or think local: act global?’ – but also to embrace the increasing orientation towards a flexible workforce. In this respect, within the EU, there remains the question of how to address the Lisbon Strategy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon_Strategy), where Interims can provide a significant contribution to client organisations.

Interim management contributes significantly to such resourcing flexibility by allowing the temporary use of a business executive by an organisation that needs to supplement in-house resources with additional skills and/or industry experience.

An increasingly utilised strategic tool, covering short-to-medium term management gaps and skills shortages, Interim management has matured to deployment of an efficient and cost-effective business solution, adopted by many organisations across a diverse spectrum of industry and the public sectors.

As a supplier and user of this management tool, Britain is certainly a leader and influential force within this sector worldwide.

Statistics indicate that as a result of using Interim Managers, some:

• 70% of organisations have used them again
• 40% experienced improved profitability
• 55% confirmed that it brought enhanced productivity
• 50% benefited from costs savings

However, despite the availability of this management resource during the past decade, research also suggests that many businesses still do not have sufficient awareness of Interim management and its distinguishing features, which as skilled project managers, ‘trouble-shooters’ as well as ‘corporate rescue parachutists’ the Institute and our Members aim to address.

What is an Interim Manager?

A professionally qualified and independent practitioner, who deliberately chooses to work as a supplier of specific skills and knowledge, on a fixed-term and fee basis, for a specific period and scope of work.

Interim Managers:

• Are mature, confident, independent and seasoned professionals with significant management experience and executive responsibility
• Are action orientated and results driven
• Are politically sensitive, but not politically driven, professionals, with highly-skilled people and project management skills that embrace and protect the interests of all stakeholders
• Provide highly competent problem-solving skills, often with a lateral approach to management issues
• Take controlled risks to achieve the required organizational change
• Keep abreast with industry, market and personal professional developments, in order to maintain effective assignment delivery. Interim managers are not ‘management consultants’, however given their breadth of experience and knowledge they can fulfill both roles, depending on project and client needs.

Interim managers are not ‘temporary’ workers or ‘contractors’; however Interim management assignments are for finite periods and driven by the short-to-medium-term demands of client organisations. The unique differentiator in this respect is that Interim managers operate as independent businesses under their own company structures and therefore carry total responsibility for tax, insurance and other statutory or regulatory requirements.

Why use Interim Managers?

Because Interims provide tangible benefits; they:

• are more than a consultant – Interims are accountable for delivering results
• are sensibly over-qualified, highly experienced, hands-on and start contributing from day one
• are highly motivated and totally focused on the defined objectives and timescale
• are available at short notice
• provide strategic overview and impartial fresh thinking from an external perspective
• Are a high value-added resource for unexpected skills gaps or managing short-term projects
• Offer flexibility of a simple entry and exit procedure, through a commercial - rather than an employment - contract.
• avoid long-term commitments and overheads compared to permanent employment, and can also offering the added advantage of freeing staff to run day-to-day business
• develop permanent staff through mentoring, coaching and training as part of their role
• can be retained as a non-executive director or specialist adviser

Who needs Interim Managers?

In the search for successful business performance and in recognition of a flexible approach to management resourcing, Interim management has evolved as an invaluable asset that can be utilised by any organisation, be it during start-up or growth, consolidation, or recovery and transition.

Interim Managers bring critical skills during critical times, injecting instant momentum to new and existing initiatives and corporate objectives.

The IIM’s members continue to represent the highest quality standards in the profession, which is reinforced by the code of practice taken on when accreditation has been achieved. As the domestic and international markets continue to evolve, our members will be increasingly seen as the quality standard bearers and low risk, high value, choice for clients.