Managers: from interim management to transformation management

The pace of change in companies is subject to an exponential acceleration, imposed by the arrival of new entrants with new, innovative and dynamic strategies, whose symbol is Uberization. The observation is clear: the business world is accelerating, expanding and becoming more complex.

 

And the traditional company is suffering. If she wants to live, she knows it, she must change once again.
Interim Management is now known and mature. In recent years, it has established itself as one of the sharpest tools for making such changes concretely and quickly, for reacting quickly in the event of a crisis, or for reorganizing a new, more efficient, more optimized order from the past.

But this time, it is no longer a simple transition, which will make her pass, as always, gradually, from one state to another, modifying what exists.
For some time now, our customers’ demand has been increasingly moving towards transformation. If the past is to be taken into account, it is now a question of apprehending the context of a blank page, and thinking “outside the box”, because the company must become different.
Transformation, unlike transition, induces a dimension of innovation.
At the same time, it is also vital to take into account and return to the original dimension of the company; First of all, a human adventure.

 

So let’s dare to say; our business is gradually becoming Transformation Management !

And it is clear that today, this is much more appropriate, for various reasons. The word “interim management” also needs to be refreshed; in its late maturity in France, it is now somewhat overused.
First of all, we must not forget that this has been, from the beginning, a French exception; everywhere else in Europe, and in the world, the term used is “Interim Executive Management”.
In our country, in the 2000s, our old Napoleonic syndrome having struck again, we wanted to find a terminology that would prevent some respectable people from seeing their noble position associated with temporary interventions, commonly associated with workers and employees.
Secondly, taking advantage of it has often (unfortunately) become a social lifeline in recent years. A space of retreat for a few suffering executives, who, having unduly believed that their enterprise would lead them in all humanity to the gates of retirement (as it has always told them), found themselves very helpless when winter came (very suddenly) …
And they were so afraid of heights, that in a last burst of disillusioned creativity, they found the light in the fact, they believe, that they would have “always done Interim Management internally”, since they changed functions every 2 years…
Nonsense (and they know it deep down), our job is complex and very real; It requires psychological qualities and energy that are rarely found on a person in such adversity. But the honor is safe, on Sunday lunchtime at the family table.

Sensing the good vein of a “2-digit” growth market, a number of recruitment firms are also now declaring themselves in the interim management niche (the FNMT has counted more than fifty of them). All you have to do is add a page to your website and shout very loudly to your customers that you have become a specialist.
Once again, fortunately, our job is not limited to “finding the right person in a few days”. Because this is the main argument of a good number of newcomers, who confuse it with the “brockerage of senior executives” (they, sooner or later, will be uberized).

Our Transformation Management business is distinguished above all by the operational excellence implemented to carry out the mission,
jointly with the manager with the client, to its completion with quality and success. It is in this capacity that we can guarantee the implementation of the necessary innovation. This requires proven and agile methodologies (and sometimes even certified, as at WAYDEN) and recognized know-how. This often concerns front-line positions (CEO, CFO, HRD, CIO, DOP, etc.). The ability to quickly position the right manager is then only an initial step, and a normal one, in a much more complex process and with added value for our clients.
Finally, in itself, transformation is now necessary everywhere. It consists of rethinking organizations, its tools, its interaction with its people with new bases, by breaking with the patterns of the past. Hence the innovation needed.
“Think globally, act locally”. Under the impetus of digital tools, and the acceleration they provide, a range of action never known before is now accessible; Markets are becoming global, products and services are hyper-personalized, distribution is done immediately in the moment, and access to the end consumer is disrupted. It’s a revolution, and as always, those who don’t adapt, will disappear.
As in any revolution, we at WAYDEN believe that there is bound to be a better world waiting for us. We are in the middle of the ford, and the return is not possible. This period is hard, too long, and above all, no one knows what awaits us. It is often frightening. But we have to have confidence, there are no unstable organizations in the long term, man can’t stand it.
And in this period, we at WAYDEN firmly believe that Transformation Management is a key tool to accelerate the implementation of this new order. We will be actors of the future, which belongs to those who anticipate, who act, who are agile and who innovate.
Traditional Interim Management has come to an end, it is now only a part of our business:
Welcome to Transformation Management!

 

By Benoit DURAND-TISNES
Managing Director – WAYDEN Transition