Caverion had no tradition of using interim management but when the need for a temporary manager arose, the CEO, Knut Gaaserud, decided to give it a try. The experience was positive for the company and they are now considering hiring more interim managers.
Only six months after Caverion CEO Knut Gaaserud had been introduced to the interim management concept the first opportunity to try it in practice arose.
"We wanted an interim manager who would be able to initiate a number of change processes in parallel with our search for a new permanent manager for one of our regional offices," Gaaserud explains.
"The matchmaking process was very well organised. InterimLeder invited 3-4 candidates in for interviews. They were all talented and qualified individuals and it made it incredibly difficult to choose. The interim manager we decided to go for had experience of the industry and was a confident and excellent manager. The industry experience was not critical but did count in his favour in the role as the Regional Director.
Caverion's new interim Regional Director started his assignment, with an agreed duration of six months, in summer 2014.
"He got stuck in immediately, rolled up his sleeves and started working on sorting things out and making the region more similar to the other regions within the company." The important factor in such a change process is to have the experience and ability to manage the people who will remain afterwards and who have to live with the changes after you have left. No-one benefits from someone turning up and just ploughing thoughtlessly ahead. You need to work smart and understand people and how the changes will be supported and enhanced. Again, our man had it all.
"As the client it is crucial to feel sure that the person you have hired will not jump ship halfway through the assignment. You must have faith that the person who has started will actually stay for the duration of the contract period. Our man kept hold of the baton, with some minor overlap, until we had found a new manager, so it worked out very well. The assignment concluded in February this year and we extended the original assignment period by two months. We found our chosen candidate and InterimLeder to be extremely professional during the entire process and we always felt we could trust them," Gaaserud says.
"At Caverion it is far from traditional to hire interim managers and this was the first time we had used InterimLeder. However, I am extremely happy and am currently in dialogue with the company about another couple of options," Gaaserud reveals.
This is Caverion:
Caverion is Norway's leading technical total contractor and maintains customer assets throughout the entire life cycle of industrial building and development. As a technical total contractor the company designs, produces, operates and maintains user-friendly and energy-efficient solutions for buildings, infrastructure and industry. Caverion Norway has approximately 3,000 employees across 50 local departments throughout Norway. Their services and technical disciplines cover every requirement in the entire life cycle of the building and industry segment, within both projects and service. Read more about Caverion at caverion.no