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Choosing an interim agency
It can be difficult knowing which is the best agency to choose when looking for an interim. Adele Kimber discovers how some employers are tackling the problem and offers some helpful hints
When an organisation decides it needs a critical injection of expertise, there is no time to waste. Recruiting an interim manager demands a speedy and efficient process to find just the right level of experience, and this normally means hiring an agency with good contacts and knowledge of skills on the market. An agency often plays a critical part in getting the right person on board fast.
But the rash of new entrants into the interim supply market over the last couple of years has made it difficult to find the right supplier. HR professionals are faced with a bewildering choice from established market leaders through to small specialist start-ups and an array of recruitment companies offering interims as an extra service to their main business.
Attempts are being made by the industry to sift out the best performers, and differentiate them from inexperienced providers and agencies who do not offer a fully-fledged interim service. Interim provider Executive Grapevine has published an overview of the UK’s interim management marketplace. The first survey was published in 2002, and named those interim providers who had the largest share of the market, based on the rate level that their interim executives and managers worked at. The aim was to provide corporate recruiters looking for an alternative resourcing option with a navigable overview of the interim providers at the top end of the market.
Martin Wood, managing director of BIE Interim Executive, points to three types of models used by providers to source interim managers: the practice partner model, the quasi recruiter, and the CV broker.
BIE and many of the leading interim agencies follow the practice partner model, where one or two handpicked candidates are presented to a client, following an agreed brief. The interim agency normally attends the interview and gets involved in clarifying objectives.
Other interim agencies, defined by BIE as ‘quasi recruiters’, hold large databases and match a client’s brief with likely candidates from the database. The agency supplies a shortlist of up to six candidates, after a screening process, and the onus is often on the client to make its own selection after a number of interviews.
The third model, internet-based services operating as a CV broker, are new to the interim market. Client inquiries are used to search a database of would-be interims who have rarely been interviewed by the agency. The onus here is on the client to sift through the CV’s, select and match the best interim to the task.
Experienced interim agencies have a wide network of contacts on their side. “Our contacts with experienced interims have to be better than any informal network. We must know all the experienced interims available. We have interviewed maybe 20,000 people but have a gene bank of 800 to 1,000 skilled managers,” says BIE’s Wood.
He says that the type of interim is defined by price. “Always think carefully about what level of interim you need – if it is more than £500, then it’s a top level, senior post and is a true interim assignment. Anything paying below £500 a day is really contract tempting,” he adds.
Source: Personnel Today / Interim HR Today report - Spring 2004
To discuss your interim management requirements with BIE call +44(0)20 7222 1010