Innovators Defining the Future of Interim Management Recruitment

Interim Management Recruitment ‘norms’ are changing [R1]. Demand for interims is rising as traditional permanent employment models are replaced. There is an increasing need to source interim management talent at pace and to intelligently qualify and contract with high calibre candidates. Entrepreneurship is booming and innovation in the recruitment industry is accelerating [R2]. How is the recruitment market responding to these shifting employment demands for interim talent? Can lead times and margins (often ranging from 20 to 25% [R3]) be improved and how will the market segmentation and focus change?

The Gig Economy

InteriMarket, a new market entrant in interim management recruitment

I spoke to the CEO of recruitment tech start-up InteriMarket, Bhumika Zhaveri [1] to find out more about next generation interim and contract recruitment platforms and the future of innovation in the interim talent market.

InteriMarket: Hub of Interim Management Recruitment

Q1. Bhumika, what are the key trends in interim management recruitment and how have you seen talent attraction and retention change over the past few years?

The key trends in interim management recruitment is that firstly it is on the rise with more and more employers wanting flexibility and expertise quickly for shorter term opportunities. And the same applies to the candidates, today we are widely in a talent driven market so interim professionals are greatly helping drive this trend. InteriMarket is here to shake things up.

There are a lot more fluxes expected in small and large organisations with all sorts of transformation and change programmes. These used to be few and far in-between up to a few years ago, however since 2008 almost every organisation goes through transformation and innovation at many levels in almost repetitive cycles every 18 – 24 months; and this simply means that the sort of individuals required are sometimes specialists for shorter term. Attraction is gaining momentum in the gig economy for interim professionals with right skills and experience, retention however is another story – because it is not always possible or required.

Q2. Are any recruitment market sectors (such as IT) particularly disruptive?

These are very interesting times. I believe that all market sectors are becoming disruptive now and will continue to do so not just IT. Take marketing, finance and even human resources where the aspect of data and digital communication is growing. More and more interims now have to understand not only their jobs but also how other experts and departments have to work together for a cohesive output.

Q3. Where do you see the interim recruitment market going? What will talent seekers and interim candidates need to do in response?

Interim recruitment is on the rise, there are predictive analyses carried out by several experts and economists for publications like the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review that suggest that by 2020 at least 40% of the global workforce will be working within one or more forms of interim or freelance model.

Interim candidates will need to clearly identify the right interim model for themselves i.e. hourly or contractually that works best for them. They will have to keep updating their skillsets as per changing trends, and be very open-minded when it comes to trying newer industries and skills to make the most of their interim engagement models.

For interim talent seekers it will be a very objective and practical decision making as and when they need to hire interim talent. Employers will have to find a balance between must have skills on higher rates vs. good to have skills on moderate rates.

Q4. What do you see as the key weaknesses in traditional approaches to interim talent recruitment and management?

Traditional ways of interim recruitment have been slow… very slow and expensive in my opinion. Interims have had to spend a lot of time in sourcing their next roles via their various different networks, approaching agencies, applying for multiple jobs and listing themselves on several job boards. This has proven to be painfully time consuming and in some cases expensive. Both you and I plus several other interims I have spoken with have experienced this painful process.

The biggest weakness in the industry is the lack of a cohesive and “only” place for interim professionals. This is exactly why InteriMarket is in business, because we want to be able to help interims find their next gigs and even pipeline future work through one place. We are building a single hub for all interim recruitment to help save time and costs not only for interims but also serving agencies, RPOs and employers directly especially as the demand and supply for this particular vertical in the sector grows.

Q5. InteriMarket launched in July 2016. How are you helping your clients find great opportunities and source great candidates?

Yes, we have just launched, and we are making some strides in terms of brand awareness and what we are about. We have offered our platform for free to recruiters that we know of and allowed them to use it unlimited for now although that is all due to change from next month when we introduce our pricing plans with only limited 1 week free trial.

We are really committed in helping our interim professionals find the right opportunities so we are working on partnerships to enable our interims find the opportunities easily and quickly on the platform. Registration is quick and simple, plus profiling is interesting because our profiling mechanism really helps an interim professional highlight their brand proactively.

Q6. What has InteriMarket’s journey so far been like? What have been the personal highlights?

InteriMarket is in an opportune time at the moment as we entered the industry with clear objectives and USPs. Our journey so far has been full of ups and downs like most other start-ups where we have experimented and pivoted where needed. We now have a good solid team and we are focusing our efforts on user journey with further simplification of our platform.

Personal highlights have been the constant learning and change, I am personally a big believer in change and growth.

Q7. What is your vision for ‘next generation’ interim talent management platforms? How will these speed up and simplify interim talent acquisition and provide increased value to customers?

Well there is a lot of innovation coming out in the industry, lots of newer ways of streamlining processes etc. however what I feel is that a technology or platform that combines both human and machine aspect will win in the longer run. That is exactly what we are aiming for at InteriMarket!

Conclusion

Interim management recruitment is a critical business need, particularly in periods of uncertainty and volatility. Shifting expectations and engagement models are eroding traditional employment models, placing greater demands on HR functions and their recruitment partners. Growth in interim recruitment is driving new market opportunities and creating business opportunities for recruitment innovators. InteriMarket envisions novel engagement models and seeks to excel as a leader of industry change.

You can learn more by visiting the InteriMarket site. Registration is free (for ‘gig seekers’) and the team will help you streamline your search for your next freelance assignment.

[1] Biography

Bhumika Zhaveri is founder and CEO of InteriMarket a global recruitment platform for interims, consultants and contractors. She is a serial entrepreneur and has a MBA from London Southbank University. She is an accomplished business writer and regular contributor to publications including BizCatalyst 360.0 You can connect with her on Linkedin, Twitter and at InteriMarket.

References

[R1] http://www.executivesonline.co.uk/en/reports/interim-report/
[R2] http://www.eremedia.com/ere/the-top-10-bleeding-edge-recruiting-trends-to-watch-in-2015/
[R3] http://iim.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Service-Providers-Guide-2016-8-15.pdf