Chicago organizations and companies strive to have the necessary leadership and staff in place to accomplish the regular and routine daily, weekly, and monthly activities needed to run the business. With the ongoing labor shortage and race for talent, even necessary staffing is difficult to recruit and retain. And it is even more likely that longer term projects—projects meant for the continued evolution or growth of your business—are continuing to get pushed to the bottom of the priority list. To begin to tackle these projects, interim leadership staffing may be a reasonable, economic option to consider.
The benefits of hiring interim leadership staff, whether focused on accounting, operations, human resources, or technology projects, are further valuable given today’s environment. As you consider special projects your team has not found time to start, it is worth considering the benefits of bringing on an interim CFO, COO, or other leadership position to plan, execute, and complete essential projects that are not getting the needed attention.
Benefits of Interim Staffing
The benefits will vary depending on specifically what you have hired an interim leader for, but interim leadership roles can provide overall value to the business in several ways.
- Short term, predictable investment: Interim staffing does not carry the same level of investment as a full-time employee (FTE) in terms of benefit expenses and investment longevity. If planned accordingly, interim staffing can provide a definitive expense amount for a specific duration of time—a fixed expense that is often easier to manage and budget compared to an FTE.
- New perspective: An interim CFO, COO, CHRO, or CIO can provide your organization an outside perspective on existing processes and procedures that is often difficult for long-time employees and leaders of an organization to see on their own. This can prove valuable when an organization falls into the rut of doing things because “this is how we have always done it”, as well as when embarking on a project that seeks to step back and look at the big picture.
- Need for a change agent: When change is needed, regardless of the reason, hiring an interim position is often a good approach. Along with the new perspective, a new face and personality, is often in a better position to lead the execution of significant change. This allows the full-time leaders to be in a position of being impacted by change—not appearing as the change agents—just as much as everyone else.
- Flexibility: Interim staffing can provide what you need when you need it, and when you don’t need services, you don’t need to make the investment or commit your full-time resources. Depending on the responsibilities and the projects you need completed, an interim position can come and go as needed.
Contact Us
Interim leadership roles may be a good option to consider depending on what needs to be accomplished for your business. At Selden Fox we have professionals who can serve as an interim CFO, as well as an interim COO, or in several other senior leadership roles. If you are considering interim leadership staffing or have questions about the information outlined above, Selden Fox can help. For additional information call 630.954.1400 or click here to contact us.
