Appearing in the 1980s in the United States and Northern Europe, interim managers are booming in France. Who are they ?
Interim managers are top-level temporary workers. These are senior executives. They left their company. They sell their experience and expertise on one-off missions. There are well over 10,000 in this very specific market, and it is a real phenomenon, especially since the post-covid period, explains a specialist.
franceinfo: What types of missions are they called on?
Sarah Lemoine: In the mid-90s, the interim manager was more of a cost-killer, the guy called in to restructure, cut heads and reduce costs. It still exists, but it is no longer the core of its missions.
Today, he is asked to replace at short notice a general director, dismissed by his board of directors, or on maternity leave. To help a company transform. Develop an international market. Pacify the dialogue in a factory on strike, take charge. Or bring a very specific skill that doesn’t exist. The missions last between 4 and 18 months, they often respond to a crisis or emergency situation.
What is the profile of an interim manager?
He has experience, often in his fifties, 20 or 25 years of experience behind him, in management positions. He must immediately grasp the issues, be able to lead a team, and obtain a result.
High-mindedness, humility, great capacity for analysis and adaptation, sums up the human resources firm Arthur Hunt. In general, the interim manager is not looking for a permanent contract. What motivates him is to manage his career with complete freedom.
Almost all sectors now call on interim managers?
More than half of them are called to industry, the automobile, plastics, and agri-food industries, where transformations are particularly strong and rapid. But also in services and commerce. And more recently, banking and insurance. These tend to be large groups or mid-sized companies.
For an obvious cost reason, the bill for an interim manager is 1,200 euros per day, on average, and sometimes much more, depending on the profile.