Here are the key answers to any questions you may have. If you’ve not found the answer you’re looking for, please contact us under the Company Contact section.
You don’t see recruitment agencies in our business very often. The purpose of interim management is much broader: it is to put in place an experienced manager, available immediately, with all the required skills, who intervenes for a given period and in an operational and managerial manner. He or she has a precise roadmap defined with the client.
WAYDEN’s role is therefore broader than that of a recruitment agency, in that we have a commitment to the quality of the assignment for both the manager and the client after the assignment has started. We’re present throughout the execution of the assignment and until the handover. To this end, we’ve developed methodologies that have been certified by Bureau Veritas Certification.
No. 76% of the companies that use interim management are SMEs. Thanks to its network, WAYDEN is able to intervene in all sectors of activity for top-level management functions: general management, operational management and support management. However, for strategic issues, WAYDEN usually works with companies with a minimum turnover of €200 million, to be at the heart of complex transformation issues.
At WAYDEN, interim managers are hand-picked. In addition to our selection process, which all candidates who apply to us go through, the managers selected all have at least 20 to 25 years of experience with a high level of expertise.
They have both soft skills and hard skills. It’s usually this know-how that enables them to quickly obtain concrete and measurable results, and therefore the ROI sought by our clients.
In general, an interim assignment starts within five to ten days. To meet these tight deadlines and to offer companies the best possible solution for their needs, WAYDEN anticipates the entire process and meets with 40 experienced managers every week. Of these candidates, only 20% join WAYDEN Selection, the group of people with whom we reserve the right to execute an assignment. This is how WAYDEN is able to present the best managers to its clients in record time.
An interim assignment doesn’t end when the manager leaves. The level of intervention itself requires this. Post-assignment follow-up is a key element for WAYDEN. At the end of the assignment, a closing meeting is organised with all players. We hand over the roadmap, which contains all the elements necessary for the smooth continuation of the activity. A WAYDEN associate director may be asked to ensure continuity of exchanges, if necessary, which is also part of our commitment.
Just because you’re available on the market doesn’t mean you can necessarily be an interim manager. Becoming an interim manager requires know-how; our interim managers are all experienced managers. But it also requires interpersonal skills, which are often the key factor in the success of any assignment.
To become an interim manager is to have fundamentally moved from a status-based logic to a contribution-based logic. This is why we’re obliged to select our candidates beforehand; only 20% of the candidates we meet join our WAYDEN Selection database.
The interim manager must be able to make a difference quickly. They’re therefore chosen for their professional experience and expertise. They’ve been involved in the same or similar situations as you, and usually in an over-dimensional way, so that they don’t focus so much on the technical or functional aspects, but rather on the real differentiating factor of the transformation, which is the human aspect.
The interim manager must reconcile two essential qualities: strategic vision and operational implementation. They must also unite teams on a daily basis in their managerial dimension. This is how our work differs from that of a consultant. The success of the assignment depends on the manager’s ability to obtain very concrete and measurable results.
The objective isn’t the same, and nor is the timescale. Interim management is aimed at companies that have an urgent and important need in turnaround, reinforcement and replacement situations. The interim manager isn’t meant to stay with the company, and in fact this isn’t the intention of professional interim managers.
The interim manager, through their experience, has a certain knowledge of the market, its particularities and its developments. They’ll be able to implement actions adapted to your company’s needs. Unlike an employee who’s been with the company for years, the interim manager isn’t absorbed in their daily routine, but acts in the interests of your company. They can provide an impartial view of the solution best suited to the objectives set.
The interim manager isn’t contractually an employee of the company. However, they can take over an assignment immediately and be operational quickly. Given their sense of responsibility and seniority, they have a duty of result towards your company. They do everything possible to achieve the objectives set by the client.
The interim managers who work for companies are experienced experts. They have between 15 and 25 years’ experience and have already been involved in situations identical or similar to yours. To guarantee the highest possible quality, WAYDEN carefully selects the best interim managers.
Interim management is used in urgent and important situations. In this context, some interim managers are specialised in handling and resolving crisis situations. They have the right skills for the situation and will be able to implement an action plan that meets your needs. Interim management is a concrete, flexible and immediately operational solution to support you in your transformations.
The average duration of an assignment is seven to eight months. Depending on the issues at stake, it may be shorter, or even extended to a year and a half. What is immutable is that a roadmap with precise objectives is established at the beginning of the mission. This serves as a guide throughout the assignment.
The majority of positions held by interim managers are management positions, i.e., with a managerial component. But the interim manager can also provide expertise on project-based assignments.
In order to reinvent themselves, prepare for the future or deal with the unexpected, companies need to be responsive. When they contact an interim management company, they have an urgent need, and calling on a classic recruitment agency would take too long! The interim manager is available and operational immediately. They will draw up an action plan and monitor its implementation in line with the expected objectives. They will then ensure the handover to their replacement, enabling the company to recruit under the best possible conditions.
The interim manager has skills that can be used immediately by the company and, above all, has no future in the company. They therefore intervene in the interests of the company for a given period and will implement their own strategy.
A consultant generally draws up a strategic plan to be implemented. An interim manager can draw up a strategic plan, but above all they implement it on a daily basis in an operational and managerial manner.
Our clients all have an international dimension and WAYDEN must support them in their international expansion. In this sense, WAYDEN is the exclusive partner in France of the worldwide network IXPA – Global Executive Solutions. This means that WAYDEN can provide solutions for its customers in 29 countries on four continents.
