During the recruitment process for a new CEO at GT Musiikkiluvat Oy (GTM), the owners decided to engage an Executive Interim Manager. The company was founded in 2016 as a joint venture between Gramex and Teosto and is active in sales and marketing of background music licenses.
Gramex CEO Ilmo Laevuo explains that they had set a new strategic direction for the company and that the assignment for the interim CEO was to anchor this within the organization: “The recruitment process for a new CEO easily takes four to six months or more. A company cannot be without a CEO for an extended period, an organization needs leadership. We had the option to use internal resources, but in my experience, you then enter a state of limbo where only the most essential tasks are carried out.”
The organization at GTM had been heavily involved in improvement and efficiency work, and it was important for the employees to understand that development would continue. Ilmo explains that they were looking for an Interim Manager who could fully handle the role and ensure the continuity of development, and since they had previous experience with using Interim Management services, they chose to contact Nordic Interim in Finland: “Our previous collaboration with Nordic Interim was very smooth and therefore we relied on their support again. The process was very fast and focused on finding the best candidate. Two equally strong candidates were presented, and we chose to engage Sanna Reunanen whose experience and personality best matched our needs.”
As the company was in a new situation, it was necessary to identify the competencies that would be required of the new permanent CEO, and to continue developing the business in line with the set strategy, they needed to find a person who was innovation-prone and who could build partnerships with external partners. “We did not set the same profile requirements for the interim CEO, as we considered it unrealistic to expect that from a person coming in for a limited time, but it quickly became apparent that Sanna’s experience in change management and building businesses was extremely useful. As soon as she understood the company’s strategic direction, she began preparing for its implementation. At the same time, she ensured that motivation and engagement in the organization were high by reshaping the corporate culture and implementing new forms of follow-up. Just like a conductor, Sanna ensured that our orchestra continued to play in harmony. Using an Executive Interim Manager during the recruitment process simplified the onboarding of the new CEO and kept the engagement for our development process up.,” concludes Ilmo.