Women prosper in interim management

Four women - all of whom have found positions through the UK interim management specialist Praxis - talk about their experiences:

"People are surprised when I first walk into a company. I am not at all what

they expect," says Canadian-born Marie Lancup. She is petite, smartly

dressed and admits to 46, but looks 10 years younger.

An expert in change management, she is one of a small but growing band of

women interim managers. She has been an interim since 1993 for a variety of

firms, including an investment bank, and says she loves the independence

that the role brings.

She also enjoys the responsibility and buzz of being dropped in at the

deep-end. "You really have to deliver. You must be up and running right

away."

Patrique Habboo, managing director of Praxis, says increasing numbers of

women go into interim management because they have hit glass ceilings in

their professional life.

"They have reached the point where they should be on the board. They are

very senior, very qualified and have done some major projects in the past.

They are women who achieve great things in their careers and control their

own agenda."

Preeta Cooley, 37, who specialises in assignments for high-tech firms, cites

another advantage of being an interim. Recently returned from a month's

holiday in India, she believes the lifestyle is ideally suited to women, as

many place a higher priority on balancing work and life goals than men.

"An interim's flexible pattern of working gives you the freedom to achieve

in areas outside the workplace," says Cooley.

Carola Munro, 42, a customer management specialist, agrees. She enjoys the

breaks between assignments and says she spends the time fruitfully, reducing

her golf handicap.

"There is something in women that says 'I want a balanced lifestyle. I want

a nice income and a nice challenge, but not necessarily at all costs.' "

Munro has been working as an interim since 2001 and her assignments

have included roles as managing director of a contact center in Amsterdam

and service delivery manager for Siemens Business Services.

While male and female interim managers require the same business skills and

personal attributes, age and relationships are key issues for women. Cooley

was joint managing director of a 26 million turnover company by the age of

30.

Having moved into interim management with her particular strengths in

formulating strategic direction, she admits there is an age prejudice. "At

37 I am considered young. But I have had a very fast-track career and bring

vitality and enthusiasm to every project I tackle."

At the other end of the scale, Sue Griffin is 50-plus. She knows that

finding a permanent senior position is difficult at her age. By opting for

a career as an interim she can maintain seniority and the salary that goes

with it.

Benefits are two-way, she stresses. Her long career as an HR manager with a

computer company and as a senior management consultant in HR gives clients

instant access to 25-plus years experience with blue chip companies.

The women interims agree that while an understanding partner is essential, a

career as an interim is almost impossible for women while children are

growing up.

Many assignments involve working far from home, sometimes abroad, and the

hours can be long. One hundred per cent commitment to the assignment is

crucial as clients are paying for and expect the best.

With assignments averaging six months and often requiring at least four

nights a week away from home, some women admit that loneliness can be a

downside.

Griffin has her own answer to the problem. "Men can go to the local pub, or

prop up the hotel bar," she says. "My recipe is not to stay in a hotel.

Instead, I find a bed and breakfast or short-let flat where I can make a

temporary home for myself."

She and Cooley find that the people they are working with are often

concerned they will be lonely and make a point of inviting them out. Both

now have a network of friends and acquaintances stretching around the UK.

Griffin says women interims should not be afraid to insist on a healthy

work-life balance, sometimes by refusing to take a job far from home - even

if it results in a period of unemployment.

Women certainly seem to be accepted nowadays as interims, though Lancup and

Cooley admit to a gut feeling that the scales are slightly weighted towards

men when clients have a straight choice.

But ultimately it is the right person with the right skill set who is

chosen in the vast majority of cases. "If you can be very straight, direct

and persuasive, you will have no problem at all," Cooley says.

Habboo says women excel in some areas, including HR, IT and e-commerce, and

particularly e-products marketing.

Griffin says: "Nowadays women HR professionals are generally well accepted

in the mainly male arena of board and director level. HR delivery teams

tend to be mostly women.

"I think women are particularly good at dealing with sensitive issues within

a highly charged emotional atmosphere, such as mergers, change programmes

and downsizing. Women are empathetic and quickly attuned to how people are

feeling."

On a recent assignment Munro had 45 direct reports. "It meant I had to get

to know a lot of people quickly, finding out who's who and what's what and

driving them forward. It was quite intense, but women tend to perform well

in these situations."

Cooley says: "Women are often able to get everyone to buy into what they are

trying to achieve through tact and diplomacy. They are natural

team-builders, working on the collaborative approach."

"You tackle interesting and stimulating assignments which really make your

brain work," she says of the interim life. "My idea of heaven is being

thrown into chaos."