Understanding bridge management and replacing a leader

The recruitment of a Chief Executive Officer can be very time-consuming, and can sometimes take up to several months. Given the challenges associated with such a position, it is essential not to rush at the risk of recruiting an unsuitable profile.

Using an interim CEO to take over following the absence or departure of a Director General will then be an ideal solution to guarantee the continuity of the function in the best possible conditions. This is the assurance of benefiting from a highly competent, high-performance employee who is immediately available for a last-minute replacement.

As head of the management committee, the interim director manages all general management functions. He has a perfect command of each of the organization’s branches, guarantees the growth of the business, implements adjustments if necessary, identifies areas for improvement, etc. It thus creates an environment conducive to facilitating the handover of functions to the new DG.

The interim manager is able to replace, even in an emergency, an absent Human Resources Director. Operational as soon as he or she arrives at your company, the interim HR Director carries out all the specific missions of this position (management of recruitment, salaries, staff, unions, employee training and career development, etc.). But he is also able to initiate change management, to manage delicate projects or to deal with unusual situations. He or she can also take care of the recruitment of your future HR Director.

At WAYDEN, we are able to appoint an interim Chief Financial Officer to urgently replace an administrative and financial director who has left his or her position.

This external speaker has solid expertise, the result of 15 to 20 years of experience in senior positions. He or she carries out all the missions inherent to this position: inventory of finances, management of the budget, cash flow, tax and financial declarations, implementation of financing plans, reporting tables, etc. He is also able to manage major financial projects, whatever they may be (financing of a project requiring substantial fundraising, recapitalization of a site, negotiation of receivables, change of shareholders, buyout phase, negotiation of receivables, compliance with the tax services, etc.).

A key position within the company, the vacant position of Chief Sales Officer may be temporarily filled by an interim Sales Director.

This leader of men has all the qualities and skills to quickly gain the trust of employees and effectively unite the sales teams. A source of proposals, the Sales Interim Manager steers the sales policy, raises any weaknesses or areas for improvement, and proposes corrective solutions to facilitate the transfer of functions to the future employee.

The interim manager can intervene to replace a manager or executive essential to the company, regardless of the function (high-ranking manager, IS director, legal, logistics, marketing, accounting and finance, etc.) or the targeted sector of activity (industry, retail, banking and insurance, etc.). This seasoned expert takes over efficiently in order to carry out all the daily missions, but is also able to deal with exceptional events if necessary.

For interim management, bridge management is the majority type of mission. In H1 2023, it represents 51% of the interim management market (more than half of the assignments). Bridge management represented “47% of the assignments listed by the France Transition Barometer” in 2025. In 2020, it represented only 31% of assignments.

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Interim managers are increasingly in demand by large groups, mid-caps but also SMEs/SMIs.

Here are some of the factors that can explain this growing use of this type of manager profile:

• The Covid19 health crisis which had a strong impact on the years 2020 and 2021.
• Sectors that are growing but are under pressure and suffer from talent shortages. The scarcity of sought-after skills is therefore guiding recruiters to turn to outsourced managers.
• These top managers also reduce HR costs for companies
• Immediately operational, these interim executives are available at short notice and have all the necessary skills to deal with a managerial emergency (sudden departure, vacancies, leave, strong rapid growth and launch of strategic projects)
• Interim management is an agile and lean solution to take over from executives

Here is a non-exhaustive list of transition missions carried out by bridge managers on behalf of client companies:

1. 1. Replacement of senior managers (CEO, COO, CSO, CFO, CMO…)
   2. Project Management Officer : internationalization, IT projects (such as the redesign of an HRIS), product launches, etc.
   3. M&A management : in a specific context such as mergers and acquisitions, relay managers are ideal for preparing and succeeding in the integration between the merged companies (corporate cultures, processes, HRM, etc.).
   4. Transformations, restructuring and turnarounds
   5. Emergency planning and corporate crisis management

• The pharmaceutical industry and healthcare facilities
• The Manufacture and the automobile
• The energy production sector
• Banking, Insurance and Finance players
• The tertiary retail and service sector