As pressure mounts for finance departments to provide forward-looking information and to work more closely with the business, while producing the daily, monthly and annual management information, it’s no wonder that many teams are working at capacity. More and more employers are using a temporary and more flexible workforce to help – from Year End accountants to interim change managers.
Delivering improvements in organisational efficiency and processes have given rise to a contractor workforce that specialises in project delivery and change management. Their career is nurtured not by development through the ranks of an organisation, but by experience gained in a multitude of different companies and projects.
The popularity of the creation of finance shared service centres is on the increase particularly during challenging times and with it the creation of a new breed of serial “shared servicers”, who work on a temporary or interim basis. This is not the natural home of the traditional back office temporary accountant, as Tetra Pak’s Lisa Hooley comments: “a finance transformation (accountant) is far from the traditional bean-counter, (they are) much more of a strategic and change management underpin to the CFO and CEO.”
Recruit on a temporary basis to deploy in projects where the core workforce may lack the relevant know-how and expertise
However, let’s not forget the value of the more mainstream accounting contractors whose role and commitment is vital during times of organisational change and transition. As Abhay Raichoora, Process Lead at BP comments: “We are in the process of moving part of our finance activity to a number of other countries and have relied on our contractor workforce to provide much needed continuity as a supporting mechanism to the finance teams.” Abhay goes on to say “(the) successful engagement of our contractor workforce is vital during these uncertain times and clear communication around project timeframes and deliverables is paramount. We are very grateful to our temporary workers who have played a crucial role in the effective transfer of knowledge and processes.”
Professor Jutta Rump, director of the Institute for Employment and Employability (IEE) agrees. When speaking to Recruiter magazine she said: “A flexible workforce plays a crucial role in business success, even in the current period of economic uncertainty and global financial crisis. [Employers] must ensure they have a committed and qualified workforce. It would also make sense to recruit strong candidates with specialist skills “from outside” on a temporary basis to deploy in projects where the core workforce may lack the relevant know-how and expertise.”
And as we report in Public sector specialist accountants in demand, a large number of authorities are currently undergoing restructures or a strategic partnership review, putting non-critical permanent requirements on hold. Using interims allows employers to secure candidates in key posts and sustain a normal working environment until the restructure is complete.
Project work and process efficiency programmes by their very nature often negate the need to hire on a permanent, full time basis. Instead, interim experts are required to support an internal skills shortage while at the same time allowing a certain detachment necessary to effect change.
there are a number of interim opportunities for the best talent in specialist areas.
It is no surprise that in recent months we have seen an increase in demand for interim cost modelers and controllers whose CVs show the impact they have had on a company’s bottom line and overall financial situation. In these circumstances such cost efficiencies far out way any expense of bringing on board an interim resource.
In the current economic climate the advantage of bringing in interim accountants is more openly acknowledged both in facilitating change and provide a fresh pair of experienced eyes to challenge the status quo of an organisation. As the so-called green shoots begin to break through the company balance sheets we anticipate the demand to continue as organisations prepare themselves for the upturn.
One Comment
This may be true at the more junior level, however as an experienced qualified, with years of interim experience in a commercially aware change management environment, if these positions exist, they are not being bought to my attention.
Pretty much all the businesses which have the economies to outsource to SSC’s have done so long ago & in this market the interim is the first cut in the budget line in my experience, regardless of the undoubted value that could be gained from employing such staff.