Companies that need support in crisis management or need to fill a vacant management position on a transitional basis often resort to so-called interim mandates. One area of application is project work when the capacities or project management know-how of the respective company are not sufficient. Other possible uses are, for example, special topics for which a company does not need to have one or more experts permanently on staff.
But how willing are specialists and managers to accept such interim positions? This is one of the questions the HR experts of the HR Consult Group asked in a survey with over 10,000 participating candidates. The aim of the study is to get to know the wishes and needs of the candidates even better in order to adapt the offers of the personnel consultancies as precisely as possible.
Back to the initial question: Do candidates even want to accept temporary leadership positions?
Yes, they do!
When asked about interim mandates, the vast majority of participants (60 per cent) indicated a willingness to take on such positions. Of these, slightly less than one-fifth of respondents (18 per cent) indicated that they are basically willing to fill an interim position. In doing so, they consciously accept the short-term nature and the special challenges that such jobs entail. At 42 per cent, a large proportion of participants would accept project-based interim positions, thus establishing a firmly defined (thematic) framework for the job from the outset. However, 40 per cent of the candidates would not want to take on such a job.
Interim positions are often associated with rather difficult and sometimes also unpleasant tasks, such as restructuring or even closing down and winding up a company. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the interviewed candidates are not interested in such a position. Particularly ambitious job seekers, on the other hand, can find fulfilment in the often tricky problems. Once the case is solved, the next challenge awaits the candidate in the form of another interim position.
About the author
After graduating as an automotive engineer and industrial engineer, he began his career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development and marketing and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing in Japan and South America and marketing strategy in North and South America.
In 1994 he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consultancy in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
With his doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics, he ideally rounds off his fields of competence, especially with regard to personnel and management consultancy. The dissertation deals with the identification and proof of typical personality traits of engineers as well as the definition of development areas for a successful professional career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz".
At the same time, his focus is on building networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous further development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Within the last 20 years in personnel consulting, he has developed several brands that are still successful on the market today.
