Rise in proportion of women appointed as senior interim managers

Nick Elvin

The proportion of women appointed to high level interim management roles has increased significantly since 2008, according to Interim Management Association (IMA) figures.

Thirty-five per cent of all interim managers are now women compared to 27% in 2008. Interim managers are usually appointed at or just below board-level to help with major change and strategic development programmes on a short-term basis.

Roles can range from interim chief financial officers and chief operating officers, to senior risk managers and sales and marketing directors.

According to Mellissa Brown, senior consultant at interim management solutions firm, Interim Partners, more women are finding that these senior, short term roles offer them the opportunity to boost their earnings potential, enhance their CVs and enjoy greater flexibility in their working lives.

She said: “Interim management can give an individual’s profile a substantial boost and enables them to move swiftly up the career ladder. This is particularly important for women who want to make up ground having taken a break to have children.

“Interim executives’ effectiveness tends to be evaluated on the success and value of the particular project or programme they are managing, so good interims can build up their reputation more quickly than is often possible through the more conventional employee route.

“Since they don’t see themselves as part of the corporate machine, this can help them to provide a fresh perspective to their employer and at the same time retain their own sense of control over their career.”

Brown added that it was no coincidence the percentage of female interim executives had increased in wake of the financial crisis.

“The recession reinforced the notion that employment does not necessarily mean job security in the way that it once did, so more and more executives, women included, are taking a more entrepreneurial approach to their careers,” she said.

“Having weighed up the risks and rewards of marketing themselves as a self-employed expert manager that companies can parachute in, many are pro-actively choosing this route over more traditional career trajectories.”