Interim Management in South and Latin America

We have talked to Nicholas Touchet and Gisele Gaspar at Telos Transition, one of the pioneers in Interim Management in South and Latin America. Telos has been active in the region for about 10 years, until 2020 under the brand IMGroup. In addition to four partners in Brazil, they also have partners located in Colombia and are in the process of opening an office in Argentina.

Hiring temporary expertise is seen as the new way of working.

An increasing demand for Interim Managers

The market and the demand for Interim Managers are very high. As in the rest of the world, major changes are taking place in the labour market due to fast technological development and economic instability. Hiring temporary expertise is seen as the new way of working. Also, Covid-19 has increased the demand for interim services. But this also means that the competition in the market has increased, and executive search companies are starting to offer interim services. The need for a flexible and adaptable organization is, just as in other parts of the world, becoming more and more important. The faster the technological development goes, the higher the demand for specific competencies on a temporary basis.

“Traditionally companies have focused on the talent and workforce within their organizations, but now they are expanding their talent networks to include Interim Managers, focusing on driving business critical projects. A growing number of companies are adopting project-based work models, which reflects the trend in several industries. In this scenario, the Interim Management model makes a lot of sense.”, says Nicolas Touchet.

There is a strong demand in South and Latin America for all roles on a C-level, such as CEO, CFO, HR Director, or Supply Chain Director.The largest part of the clients come from the production-, technology- and transport/logistic industries, and there is great potential for cross-border assignments.

How does the Brazilian interim market differ from Argentina and Columbia?

“The markets are different, and that is why we decided to have local partners as they know the culture and language better than we do. This facilitates the entry to clients and generates more credibility. Colombia and Argentina are very important countries in the Latin American region.”, says Gisele Gaspar.

Great growth in the number of assignments thanks to two major initiatives

Gisele tells us that the number of assignments has grown by about 70% per year due to two large initiatives:

Full focus on the local markets to spread the concept of Interim Management
Strengthening the partnership with Globalise, the largest international network of Interim Management providers, to leverage more cross-border deals

Telos Transition is a pioneer in Interim Management in South and Latin America

With offices in Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia, and a pool of more than 700 pre-selected executives, Telos offers executive support to clients in situations of temporary absence, improvement, transformation, turnaround, and crisis management. Since 2006, Telos is the privileged partner of European and North American multinational companies and has in the last 2 years experienced an increasing growth as a trusted provider for South- and Latin American family-owned companies.

Gisele Gaspar has a background in marketing, corporate communications, and HR in international B2B and B2C companies, and Nicolas Touchet has more than 25 years of experience as an executive and consultant for international groups and family-owned businesses.