The use of interim managers in companies is becoming more and more common. Johan Mild has hired an interim manager twice. Once when a project needed to be done fast and a second time, when he wanted to drive change. “In a situation, where transformation or speed is essential, an interim manager is a good choice.”

Johan Mild, who works at Finland’s largest waste management company Remeo, knows the interim concept well. During his 4 years as CEO of Remeo, he has hired 2 interim managers, but in each case the situations were different from each other.

“The first situation arose when I was brand new in my role as a CEO and our CFO left the company.  Traditional recruitment usually takes 6 months and I didn’t want to be without a senior finance officer for that long. I needed a quick solution, so I hired an interim manager. When the interim manager’s mandate came to an end, it was extended and he stayed with the company for a full year”, Johan explains.

“We accelerated the completion of the project by at least 6 months by using an interim manager.”

The interim manager was used for a second time, when the company was looking for a significant improvement in customer service. The person, who would be in charge of the project, had to have in-depth knowledge of digitalisation and automation.

“Improving customer service involved many things. Let’s take a simple example: when it snows, waste collection is sometimes delayed. Could we use automation to inform our customers? The need is simple, but demands a lot from the IT systems.

In this situation, an interim manager was the perfect solution. We found an experienced interim manager who had worked on similar projects in other companies. By using an interim manager, we accelerated the completion of the project by at least 6 months.”

Interim managers are often more experienced than those applying for senior management positions. To be successful in the role, the interim manager’s mandate must be clearly defined and the client must clearly communicate the objectives.

The desired change may cause concern among the company’s employees. As the interim manager is usually trying to bring about a change, it is important that the interim manager gains the trust of the employees from the start. Clear and transparent communication is key.

“The goal of digitalisation is to create a high-quality customer experience. In our case, that means no more time spent putting out fires. Now we can focus our resources on planning and developing profitability. We may even need more people,” says Mild.

The number of interim managers continues to grow

Nordic Interim is the only company in Finland that focuses exclusively on providing interim managers for client needs.

“Today, interim managers are very often used when a company is seeking change or wants to implement a critical new project for a business. The average duration of an interim manager’s assignment is between 6 and 9 months,” says Kari Peuhkuri, who started the company and launched the concept in Finland in 2013.

(The article is an extract from an article published in the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet in 2022.)