Case studies
These examples illustrate how interim executives bring specialist expertise to facilitate significant change. Each assignment plays to the interim's strengths and previous experience - minimising risk and leaving lasting value.
From time to time, interims fill an unexpected gap in a management team - but the majority of assignments are planned to help an organisation adjust to changing circumstances and new challenges.
Project management and team leadership
A large office refurbishment programme was falling behind schedule, impacting further design and development work on a self contained Head Office site. Significant staff welfare issues arose giving potential for dissatisfaction and damage to morale.
AshtonPenney Interim sourced an interim executive with high level construction management experience. Critical to success was the ability to get to grips immediately with the key issues. Highly visible elements of the programme were addressed at once so that staff could see tangible results. Thereafter, highly tuned project management skills and the ability to create a unified team of direct employees, designers, contractors and sub-contractors soon brought the programme back on track.
Managing resources and introducing specialist skill sets
A privately owned specialist contractor, known for an innovative approach to the business, had a partially developed concept which, if successful, would have a major impact on house builders. Progressing the concept further would require extensive use of already stretched in-house senior management resources.
An AshtonPenney interim executive, the former managing director of a private house building company, with first class people management skills and more importantly, a live network of industry connections, took the project forward to creation of a business plan and recruited a project team to implement it.
Addressing knowledge gaps
A contracting company had significant investment in a specialist construction industry specific suite of IT products. Detailed knowledge was vested solely in the Finance Director who left the business. His successor identified serious shortcomings in the product and risks to the business due to poor quality support.
An Interim IT Manager, with prior exposure to the IT industry and knowledge of suitable alternative products, stabilised the support issues, instigated a market review of alternative suppliers, researched, negotiated and implemented a more suitable alternative and put in place suitably trained support staff in-house before moving on.