How can you appeal to interim management talent?

Businesswoman smiling amidst colleagues in a meeting.

It is becoming increasingly important for businesses to recognise how they can appeal to top talent and stand out from the competition.

As is the case for many industries, the market is in short supply of top talent. Consumer demands are changing, pressure on operations is increasing, and in order to compete, businesses are increasingly investing in technology, network re-configuration, and site efficiencies.

Where both successful project delivery and minimal disruption to operations is imperative, the market is relying heavily on interim professionals.

Here are some of the best ways to attract the top interim talent in today’s market.

1. Avoid fixed-term contract arrangements

Many dedicated contractors have worked through an Ltd business for a number of years, and moving into a salaried agreement is not commercially viable. Limiting your search in this way will potentially cut off over half of the candidate pool available to you.

2. Uphold a good reputation

Reputation is a key factor in top talents’ decision-making process. The market for dedicated contractors is limited, and networking between them is vast. A reputation for interviewing interim professionals with no intention of hiring, can result in reluctance in others that may be considering your organisation.

3. End-to-end assignments

Understandably, interim professionals prefer to work on the entire assignment rather than coming in halfway through. Career interims often feel as though they can add the most value to a longer-term assignment rather than short term. If you have agreed on a project, engage with an interim sooner rather than later. This way, they will be involved from the beginning and the project will get off to a better start. Valentin Ohlhorst, Manager, Interim Management at Michael Page, explains: “Interim Managers are interested in challenging roles where they can bring in their experience and know-how in the best way. These contractors are only available in-between projects/assignments so it is really advised to start looking for an interim support as soon as you have visibility on an upcoming project or gap in order to secure the strongest asset for it.”

4. Respond as fast as possible

Talented interim professionals often have different opportunities at the same time. If you want to make sure they will choose your company for their next assignment, you need to create a smooth recruitment process.