The management you have is unsuccessfully implementing a change program, proving to be insufficiently educated, and is not decisive in implementing radical measures, primarily layoffs and other cuts… It is time to engage temporary management, which works exclusively for results.
Written by: Saša Bart
Temporary management, recognized and widely accepted in the world, is still somewhat unknown and unexplored in the region, primarily because there is no need for quick action or due to the lack of competencies in management teams. However, the global crisis has changed the regional environment and imposed urgency in carrying out key change programs in companies. For the first time in our area, change programs in business organizations need to be implemented quickly, focused, and decisively. For survival, but also for better positioning during and after the crisis, companies are considering or launching change projects aimed at optimizing costs, reorganizing, consolidating, or changing the reward system. They all share the need for implementation, not just defining these programs. Temporary management is therefore introduced in situations where leadership is ‘compromised’ (the change program has been implemented, but unsuccessfully), insufficiently educated (the change program has not even been designed), or insufficiently decisive in implementing radical measures because it believes that managing the organization will be more difficult after their implementation (for example, layoffs as a result of restructuring or changes in the direction of organizational climate and ways of working). In all these situations, temporary management operates without the burden of inherited relationships and is therefore much more effective. In Croatia, there are several examples of successfully completed change projects precisely with temporary managers, and several are ongoing.
Masters of Crises
The unplanned departure of key managers from the company, whether voluntary or business-driven, is a significant stress for the organization and management, responsible for the business result. If we look at the ideal situation where the organization ‘nurtures’ successors of important people, succession in most companies is not simple or without obstacles. Let’s imagine the frequent situation where managers leave the company by their own decision or (which is not uncommon lately) due to business conditions, raising the question of filling the vacant position. In prosperous times, filling key positions and establishing the operability of a new candidate can take several months. In crisis times, the choice of the right candidates is narrowed on one side, while the time needed to introduce a new person into business processes is significantly shortened on the other. For this, it is necessary to ensure an individual with experience in such or similar positions in the industry and real knowledge and experience in performing the required tasks. If we consider the region and the availability of professionals as needed, temporary management emerges as a response in situations where it is necessary to move forward quickly and focused, with the mandatory knowledge and experience of the departing predecessor. A temporary manager can be engaged to seek a permanent solution for that position while ensuring that strategic projects and initiatives are carried out smoothly.
Without Excess Emotions
When and why to use them
• Complex change programs, which employees generally resist, are implemented without emotional baggage.
• They can quickly and efficiently replace a boss who has unexpectedly left the company and bridge that period until someone permanent arrives.
• Outsiders have an innovative perspective on change and can more easily motivate the team for ‘one more change’.
• They bring new knowledge, so the company does not have to invest additionally.
• They motivate and educate those who will continue to work in the system after their engagement ends.
Necessary Refreshment
Every change in an organization is inherently difficult and challenging. If we add the crisis as a catalyst to the formula, the need and urgency for implementing change programs significantly increase. Most business entities in the region acknowledge that they have problems with business change programs or in the overall functioning model due to the inability to motivate the organization. Most surveyed employees in such organizations most often cite the existing management as the problematic link. Presenting new, innovative perspectives on change and motivating the organization for ‘one more change’ most often does not return the investment precisely due to the perception of management’s capabilities and its willingness to change. An experienced temporary manager as a new team member can provide the necessary refreshment and initiate a turnaround in the desired direction. Freshness and new people can often kickstart the slowest and most monolithic machine. Trust, a new perspective, experience, and a desire to prove oneself are important. Temporary managers are more cost-effective and ensure a new beginning after the end of their engagement.
Good Advice à la Carte
Every company sooner or later becomes aware of deficiencies in managerial knowledge in certain positions or for certain activities. Examples around us more than adequately demonstrate the lack of knowledge about cost management and capacity, consolidating, or investing during crisis times of some organizations or generally certain market verticals. Investing in knowledge in crisis situations becomes too expensive, which is why temporary managers, in addition to operational action, bring concrete knowledge into the organization. Sharing practical experiences through mentoring and coaching existing staff significantly increases the likelihood of achieving the set goals of the engagement.
Temporary managers must ‘click’ with the organization to ensure added value not only through contracted deliveries but also by motivating those who will continue to work in the system after their engagement ends. If we look at Croatian examples of temporary manager engagements, the ‘click’ has been a very important factor in the final success of most engagements, even in unpopular situations of ‘optimizing operational costs’. A temporary manager must focus on deliveries that do not jeopardize inheritability and continuity but ensure them. Owners and management need ‘energized people’. Temporary management is certainly one way to achieve this.
Where They Are Recruited
Temporary managers are traditionally positioned as individuals with many years of experience in leading positions in companies in the region and the world. Experience and the ability to act quickly operationally after the start of engagement is only possible if the temporary manager has experience in designing and implementing change programs. This means that both here and in the region, temporary managers can be expected from the ranks of former board members or directors of business units; in short, people responsible for the development and implementation of business and business results. A temporary manager, if they wish to continue performing this job in another company, must fulfill the contract and ensure the return of what the company that engaged them invested in them, must pay attention to the targeted speed of deliveries (‘It’s a crisis, let’s act efficiently and quickly!’), ensure expertise (because without it there is no added value), must be objective when it comes to ‘currents and politics’ in the organization, and take responsibility for their decisions, steps, and the results of those steps. A lot for a manager, someone might say. In a chronic shortage of trustworthy people and competencies for key steps in complex survival situations or in bridging the period between two ‘full-time’ managers, temporary management becomes a very valid option.
