What is an Interim?
Procurement Interim Management can be defined as the provision of an experienced, professionally qualified, procurement practitioner either to fill a gap in permanent staffing "caretaker" role or to deliver a specific project or business result, change management or defined project within a limited time period.
Today's organisations are striving to keep their structures flat and very lean, under pressure to keep their permanent head-count to a minimum and often do not have the spare capacity to do change management projects, drive new initiatives, restructure procurement functions or obtain necessary specific skills that are not available within the organisation.
It can typically take three months to find the people with the skill set that an organisation requires, a one to three month notice period of the individual and three more to see if they can deliver - nine months of uncertainty. That's assuming that are no part of the startling statistic that 'one-in-three' new employees leave in the first few months! Often a project or change process may only have a life span of six to twelve months, of which a business may spend half or more of the time trying to find a suitable invididual.This has lead to the rapid growth & utlisiation of the interim manager.
In order to remain competitive organisations need to be ready to handle new initiatives, changing markets, drive greater efficiencies or launch new initiatives, quickly and efficiently. Procurement Interim Management is now recognised as a prefect high calibre resourcing option when such situations arise. (To enquire about the engagement of an interim manager please use the contact us page.)
Why an Interim ?
Typically over qualified for the job and 'doers' rather than consultants, procurement interim manager are an independent resource, avoiding or operating above company politics and have not career interests or prospects and therefore are rarely seen as a threat within the Client organisation but rather a "breathe of fresh-air" and often seen as a mentor or guide, often providing valuable on the job guidance and training to existing teams at knowledge transfer is a given, not an extra charge. Interims add no 'on-cost' to the business are a flexible workforce that can be terminated within an agreed time period typically seven to thirty days, with no impact to your organisation.
In a October 2006 survey by industry leading magazine Supply Management, 81% of 100 buyers polled expected their responsibilities to grow over the next year, but few predicted additional resources to meet these expanding workloads. Whilst many organisations expect staff headcount to be reduced in the coming months and years procurements workloads will continue to increase, as the drive for savings, value adds and risk mitigation increase.
If you are facing corporate challenges such as procurement resourcing issues, then consider engaging an experienced interim procurement manager, such as ProcurePro. Pulling in the right skills at the right time could be critical to the success of a project, change process, savings delivery or possibly your entire business .A highly experienced and professional Procurement Interim Manager, such as ProcurePro can hit the ground running and deliver solid results without any costly learning curve or any disruption to your existing structure.
Interims typically charge 1% - 1.5% of the annual salary as a day rate. So if a permanent role is paying £60,000 per annum the day rate would be £600- £900 per day. That might initially look expensive, but think again!
A permanent employee on £60,000 per annum is actually costing the business a lot more, if you add in recruitment costs, bonuses, holiday pay, employers NI, pension, health and company car benefits, training & development, the cost are close to £100,000 per year or more and that's excluding any severance pay. A typical engagement of six months of an interim manager could only cost a business £39,600 and a project or change process will be completed, often negating the need for a permanent employee.
Compare this with the consultancy, it would be hard to get anything more than a graduate for this price - experience starts at over £,1000 per day and can rise to £2,000 per day and the consulting model doesn't really work in singles it is based on putting a team in place. Consultancies are measured on billable days or hours, cross selling opportunities and gain share models - knowledge or intellectual property transfer is not normally on the agenda. You only get what you pay for and any thing extra comes at a price. Interims can start immediately, there is no lengthy engagement processes, pitches or power point presentations.
Unlike a permanent employee who can have several months of grace while they settle in, get to know their way around an organisation, the interim will establish a clear brief with the Client, understand the immediate and future needs, and set about delivery, seamlessly integrating within the organisation.
Interim managers are valued as an impartial sounding board, with a consultancy you will always wonder if a request for advice will lead to an invoice or another cross selling opportunity. Remember interims do not have a long term career expectation with you, so they will not tell you what you want to hear - they will tell it how it is. An interim procurement manager's candour could save your business a lot of money or risk.
(To enquire about the engagement of an interim manager please use the contact us page.)