Where does a company get a top chief executive within a week.
X-AG, based outside the EU, buys a company with 200 employees in Germany that produces electronic components for the mechanical engineering industry. The purchased company is profitable and the local management sees no reason to be fully integrated into the new ownership group. The local chief executive is not keeping his promises, so synergies cannot be sufficiently lifted. The new shareholder loses confidence in the local chief executive and patience.
What is the shareholder supposed to do now?
Should he call the HR consultant of his trust. He has already filled some positions very successfully with top managers. However, if there are now 12 months before such a permanent manager can start work, he should appoint a consultant instead. The task is clear. It’s about post merger integration. Synergies are to be raised in order to further optimize the good figures of the new company. There is no need for analysis to do this now. The consultant cannot restore the lost trust in the local managing director.
There must be no leadership vacuum. Under new management, the company is to be integrated into the Group as quickly as possible, so as not to waste any more time. In this case, the shareholder instructs the interim management provider of his trust to present a top interim managing director at short notice. The interim managing director should be from the industry and be familiar with similar corporate situations. The provider will personally present two suitable candidates to the shareholder within one week of the request. Both interim managers have their own blue print on how to solve such tasks. The shareholder chooses the candidate who can best explain his management methods.
Within three weeks of request, the interim managing director will take over his role. With his results, he exceeds the expectations of the shareholder. He would like to set him tightly. The chief executive, though, is a staunch interim manager who loves challenge. However, the shareholder has used the interim manager several more times for various projects.
Conclusion: It is not about what is better, interim management, executive search or consulting, but which solution fits best with the respective companysituation.
