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2002 News & Articles
From interim to full time
Ian Brown's appointment to a full-time position at Reckitt Benckiser successfully illustrates the flexibility of the interim management route.
Ian's role as Compensation Manager at the world's No. 1 company in global household cleaning products (excluding laundry detergents) and a leading player in health and personal care, started as a short-term interim posting, designed to enable the company's Corporate Compensation and Benefits team to function efficiently while a search was undertaken for a permanent appointment. Ian's presence as an interim manager simply removed the day-to-day pressure which can cause firms to rush an appointment and often to hire the wrong person for the job.
Ian settled in very easily to the corporate culture at Reckitt Benckiser and was delighted to be offered a permanent position.
"Initially I was unsure about moving from an interim to a permanent position," Ian explained to Interregna when asking to be taken off the firm's register of interims, "but the longer I stayed, the more I enjoyed the global aspects of the role and in dealing with people across the world. I soon realised that I would be very sorry to leave the company so when a permanent appointment was offered I decided to go for it."
Interregna's Malcolm Alexander said "it is not uncommon for such short-term roles to develop into permanent appointments; both the manager and the company often find that the relationship they have built works well, so both parties really want to continue it."
First choice again
Interregna interim John Brocklebank completed one of the longer interim assignments - eight months as interim CFO at Music Choice. The company, which floated on the London market in October 2000, is Europe's leading provider of digital music via satellite and cable, with 40 uninterrupted music channels broadcast to 12 million homes across the Continent.
John - pictured here on the left with CEO Simon Bazalgette - said:
"I stayed longer than expected because Simon needed to make a permanent appointment but had a very specific candidate profile in mind and it took a long time to find the right person.
"My function was to support the company in a period of substantial growth while the right person was selected. Having recently floated, the company needed an upgrade of its reporting and procedures, as well as assistance with evaluating potential acquisition opportunities. Simon needed someone who had "been there, done that" to come in and get on with recommending and implementing agreed changes.
"We got on well from the start, as CFO and CEO must, even if one is an interim. And as I had no intention of staying permanently, I could understand what Simon was looking for and help him assess the competence and skills of candidates."
Simon Bazalgette enthused about John Brocklebank's period of tenure: "he did the perfect job for us, calmly reviewing and revising all our procedures, from budgeting to corporate governance, so that when I finally landed someone to take the job on permanently, everything was in good order.
"I wouldn't hesitate to use an interim again in such a situation.
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