Should you hire new (and expensive) executives in times of crises?
Oxford Dictionary defines crisis as “a time of great danger, difficulty or doubt when problems must be solved, or important decisions must be made”. Turning back to business life, do you remember a time when there is no difficulty or doubt while solving a problem or making an important decision? All of us professionals constantly live in a crisis mode. Sometimes the importance or impact of that crisis is moderate or manageable like a successful launch of a competitor. But sometimes the effects are much more severe, like COVID-19.
When the disease started spreading across the world, nobody could foresee the immenseness of its effects. Yet, the negative impacts to world economy is colossal. Majority of the firms all around the globe are unable to estimate their financials for the short and medium terms and struggling to revise their strategic plans. People’s focus has shifted away from work to their and their families’ health. Compulsory remote work slimed down employee motivation and concentration, negatively impacting business results further. Nobody wants to admit defeat and shut down the business, but I seriously doubt if there are more than a handful of firms planning of expanding their business and recruiting top talents. On the other hand, crises are times of opportunities and companies need to be agile in grabbing them. The solution can very well be interim management, or in other words, hiring temporary managers.
The modern practices of interim management started as a solution against long notice periods and large costs of terminating employees. Now, it is a miracle solution for benefiting from the expertise of highly experienced professionals on a short-term basis or simply avoiding the long-term financial burden of hiring top executives while having a highly competent interim manager assisting in grabbing low-hanging fruits.
Most seasoned professionals want to move away from full-time stressful jobs and act on a project basis. This way, they can convey their expertise and business wisdom to the firms in need and feel the thrill of running a project and reaching its goals while having the freedom to enjoy personal life once the project ends.
This strategy of hiring interim managers also benefits the firms as
- they are free of full-time employment liabilities,
- their teams receive on-the-job training,
- they can meticulously and thoroughly search for full-time executives without time limitations,
- they can have a fresh eye to create sustainable solutions for their problems,
- shift the teams’ frustration regarding hard decisions away from the full-time professionals and ensure smooth workplace once the project is completed.