by Elizabeth Hines | Jan 25, 2013 | Blog
As we enter this New Year, we do so with the realization that we still suffer from the economic hang-over left from the 2008 downturn. Long gone are the days of abundant resources. Our current and future economic reality consists of scarce resources and a shrinking opportunity base. Even the best managers are having sleepless nights as they wrestle with how to grow their businesses in the face of such constraints. The good news is that these last five years has taught us to do more with less, stretch our thin resources, and continue to delight customers. So how is this getting done?
Economic uncertainty has challenged companies and management teams with expanding their business and reducing their spending, while still making meaningful progress now and into the future. Whether you are a small, mid-market, or Fortune 500 company, you will recognize the challenge of reconciling your management needs in the face of budget reductions. Doing things the same old way just “won’t do”. You need a way to quickly turbo charge your business without breaking the bank. The question remains – how? Leading companies have used a secret weapon against these challenges for years: interim management services strategy.
Interim Management Questions to Ask Yourself
- In your current or last budget cycle have you been asked to raise your profit targets with flat or reduced expenses?
- Do you have a customer or market segment that is a good fit for your company, but you don’t have the resources or time to explore, define and win that business?
- Do you need management expertise in a specific area, but don’t want to make a full time hire or can’t afford to make one?
- Do you have a window of opportunity to make a meaningful business move but can’t afford the ramp up time or learning curve to make the most of it?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, an interim management services strategy is a weapon you should think about using too. Think of it as “management as a service”. A model designed to provide specific executive, management, sales or operational expertise when and where you need it, for exactly as long as you need it, at a fraction of the time and cost expense of hiring, assimilating and assigning a full-time professional.
Interim management services allow you to make meaningful progress in your strategic initiatives without incurring a large upfront investment in time, people, or budget. It allows you to easily navigate unique challenges, fill leadership voids during transitions, or obtain expertise on special projects and initiatives. It’s effective and efficient talent, when you need it, for how long your needs exist.
Add an interim management strategy to your strategic arsenal and watch your business grow….you’ll also sleep better at night knowing you are making the most out of this current economic environment.
by Elizabeth Hines | May 31, 2012 | Blog
I read an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review that was written by Jody Greenestone Miller and Matt Miller titled The Rise of the Supertemp. The article does a really nice job of positively exposing and exploring the growing numbers and interest in what they term “the free agent nation”, a/k/a “The Supertemps”. Supertemps are top managers and professionals with real world experience from top corporations who have chosen to pursue project based careers independent from any firm. The authors go on to say that these Supertemps are being relied on more and more by companies to handle mission critical work that in the past would have had to be performed by permanent staff (read costly) or expensive outside firms (also read costly).
The author’s opinion is that these so-called Supertemps are growing in numbers and will eventually change how business works. In the article it was noted that a 2011 McKinsey study found that 58% of US companies expect to use more temporary employment at all levels of their organization and that 16 million Americans are working in this fashion today. We at Fronetics feel so strongly about this trend that we created a service offering tailored to these Supertemps and the companies that need their services. We call it Fronetics Interim Retained Management Service or F.I.R.M.S. .We like to think of it as a “management as a service” offering. Although the concept has been around for some time in the ranks of the production or hourly employee base, it is just reaching critical mass in the management and executive ranks.
If you think about it, the reasons behind growth in Supertemps are really simple. For the companies using the Supertemp, they get a high quality, experienced, and focused resource when they need it for exactly how long they need it for, at a fraction of the cost of a full time hire or an expensive outside firm. Not to mention, the time lag involved with getting a full time hire up to speed. For the Supertemp, they get to work on exciting and quality projects at superior organizations. The work is intense for a specific period of time (or outcome) and then it ends. The Supertemp gets to see the fruits of their labor, gets paid similarly (or in some cases better) than traditional full time options, and then gets to re-charge when the work is complete. And with the growing advances in technology, the Supertemps can be located anywhere and have access anytime. It really makes perfect sense for both parties. And this so-called trend is not going to go away. As companies continually need to “do more with less”, high quality expertise will get balanced against cost and time to market. When this happens, the “Supertemp” option will win that battle every time. In the near-term, it’s in the best interest of corporations and their hiring executives to start developing relationships directly with Supertemps or with intermediaries that represent them. At Fronetics, we are building our relationship base and deploying these Supertemps now and expect to see this “management as a service” offering continue to grow in the future.
