The Valtus View

The Challenges of Serving Two Masters

A Chief Finance Officer working with a company that has private equity funding can face a unique set of challenges related to serving two masters.

On the one hand, the CFO is accountable to the private equity company, which has invested in the business and has certain expectations for performance and returns. On the other hand, they are also accountable to the business itself, including its employees, customers, and other stakeholders.

This dual reporting structure can create conflicts.

High-pressure environment

Private equity companies are always focused on maximizing performance. The company may expect fast results and a significant return on investment. This requires a CFO with excellent communication and a flexible approach.

Short-term focus

Private equity companies typically have a short-term investment focus, which may conflict with the long-term vision of an investee company. The CFO may need to balance the short-term demands of the private equity company with the long-term needs of the business. Not an easy task.

Rapid change

Private equity companies may drive rapid changes in workforce, processes and systems in order to facilitate their return on investment and their eventual exit from the business. The CFO will need the skills to steer the business through these organisational changes.

How to navigate these challenges

Ultimately, it comes down to management of stakeholders. Private equity companies often have a complex network of stakeholders, including investors, lenders, and other parties.

Transparency, communication, and the ability to create a shared vision are key. A CFO must understand the needs and priorities of both parties and be able to balance these competing demands with tact and diplomacy. This will require strong negotiating skills, a deep understanding of the business and the industry, and the ability to build relationships and manage stakeholders effectively.

This is where interim managers excel. The nature of their work means that they are used to hitting the ground running, they need no induction, and they possess strong leadership and strategic thinking skills, plus operational expertise.

Interim managers know that they need to invest time and effort in building strong relationships with both the private equity company and the business, including regular communication, active listening, and a willingness to collaborate and share information.

By their nature, interim managers are focussed on delivering results. They can pivot quickly, and they are proactive in communicating progress to both the private equity company and the business.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Interim

The long-distance interim manager is often a lonely figure, spending long periods of time away from home and family to take on short-term assignments in far-flung locations.

This transitory existence, working in unfamiliar environments and cultures, can make it more difficult to develop deep and meaningful bonds with colleagues or clients. It can be an isolating experience, particularly if the manager is not used to working alone. Some people find it suits them very well.

Together with Steve Rutherford's 3 questions to ask yourself before becoming an interim manager , those considering a long-distance interim life should ask themselves if they're suited to it.

It's not for everyone.

However, there are some ways to combat the loneliness of the long-distance interim manager, such as staying in touch with family and friends, seeking out social activities in their new location, and making an effort to connect with colleagues and clients. With a little effort, the interim manager can overcome the loneliness of their situation and make the most of their assignment.

The benefits of being a long-distance interim manager

Now we've covered the things that might deter you from becoming an interim, we should consider the positive points.

Nick Archer, an interim manager and fairly new to the interim life, explains the pros and cons as he sees them in our short video interview. You might find one or two of them surprising. The one about office politics, for example.

However, it's the long-distance issues that we're talking about here. Being away from family, children in particular, friends and familiar surroundings can be difficult, especially when assignments get extended for longer periods of time.

On the plus side, you can often command a higher salary than your permanent counterparts due to the nature of your work. You can gain a great deal of experience in different organisations and cultures, which can be extremely valuable for your career. Ultimately, the interim manager has a certain amount of freedom to work with different organisations and gain experience in new places. If you're looking for variety and flexibility, then becoming an interim manager could be for you.

On a personal note, you may enjoy travelling and discovering new countries, peoples, and cultures. In which case, what better way to do that than to travel with work? Usually, travelling with work means living out of suitcases and experiencing only the airports, hotels, and transportation of the countries you visit. As a long-distance interim manager, you'll stop 6 months or so in each place? Plenty of time to discover what the country has to offer, soak up the culture and get to know the people.

Ultimately, being a long-distance interim manager can be rewarding if you take the time to embrace new experiences and make the best of them. With a little effort, you can make the most of your interim role and enjoy it. You just need to be sure that you're equipped with the right skills, attitude, and mindset to spend long periods of time away from home.

A Warm Welcome to our New Business Coordinator, Pippa Naish

We recently welcomed a new addition to the UK team. Pippa Naish is our new Business Coordinator in the UK.

Pippa started her career within international sales for a metals and industrial chemicals research consultancy and gained strong experience hosting conferences and trade shows in North America, China, Europe and the Middle East.?

Following a period of management support in digital marketing and search optimisation she moved to a leading Global IT services and digital solutions supplier.

She brings 10+ years’ experience supporting senior client executives in the public sector and defence arena with particular emphasis on client and customer liaison, security standards and vendor management.?

Her personal interests include travel, the Arts, culinary endeavours and boating.

Interim Management: so much more than "Talent-on-Demand"

It has been interesting to watch two of the largest global Executive Search firms making their first serious moves into Interim Management, through the acquisition of well-respected market specialists in the US and Germany.

True, the SHREK firms have ‘played with’ Interim Management before, but these acquisitions are a much more serious (and expensive) statements of intent. I see this as a highly positive market dynamic, and long overdue. Quite why one would diversify into mid-markets, outsourcing, outplacement et al before focussing on Interim Management is anyone’s guess. However, late comers to the party are still very welcome guests.

Less welcome has been the language used to describe the Interim Management offering that these firms have spent a lot of money to acquire. They have both been badged as central to a global ‘Talent-on-Demand’ strategy.

Ouch!

I must confess that some of my concern with this phrase comes from a natural aversion for the current excitement for adding-hyphens-where-they-are-completely-unnecessary. I will also confess to a little snobbishness about a phrase that brands what I do to in a similar way that Deliveroo market pizza.

However, based on this phraseology, I do have a more serious concern as to whether these firms actually know what they have bought.

Interim Management is so much more than ‘Talent-on-Demand’

Executive Search firms make their money by winning remits and, hopefully, delivering on them by sourcing senior executives. The best of them will also add a lot of robustness to the process, and offer value added services, but their success or failure ultimately comes down to whether they secure a high calibre hire. In this sense they are a recruitment company like any other; ‘Talent-on-Demand-but-quite-slowly’.

Interim Management isn’t like that

While there is an element that looks quite similar – the getting to know you phase is recruitment after all – the success or otherwise of the assignment can only be judged when the Interim Manager LEAVES the organisation, and not when they join.

Hence the true Interim Management Providers focus at least as much care and attention on the management of the assignment after the Manager has started, as they do on sourcing the right individual in the first place.

Our badges of honour are the businesses and careers we have helped save rather than the placements we have made, and the fees we have generated come from the satisfaction our Interim Managers provide on an ongoing and lasting basis, rather than a reflection of how skilled they are at interview.

‘Solutions on demand’? Maybe.

‘Talent-on-Demand’? Not so much.

Steve