What do you do when a manager with unusual specialist expertise hands in his notice just before the summer holidays? One of the Board members of Polarn O. Pyret Norge resorted to what he believed was the best tool for dealing with emergency situations, in other words, interim management. So not only did he manage to save the holidays, he also saved the company's operations.
In his capacity as the CEO of Expert and JC Retail & Clothes and as the CFO of Mills, Otto Chr. Sekkesæter, who comes from Molde, has employed over 200 people over the course of the years. However, this time he was not just short on time. It was also difficult to obtain the necessary expertise:
"This job called for a good candidate with the sort of technological expertise that is hard to find on today's labour market. I was therefore pretty impressed when InterimLeder (interim management) managed to find so many good candidates in just a few days. No-one else could do that."
Candidates served up on a silver platter
"Normal employment processes usually take a few months. It only took a few days from the time I submitted our specification requirements to InterimLederfor the sort of person we were looking for until they provided me with candidates for assessment. InterimLeder understood our requirements immediately and we didn't even need to explain. The candidates were served up on a silver platter along with the characteristics and experience that I was seeking," says Mr. Sekkesæter.
Safe process
"InterimLeder were involved as a sparring partner throughout the process, both with ourselves and with the candidates. The way in which they acted served to build a professional bridge spanning from themselves to the candidate, and this created a feeling of safety for all the parties involved," says Mr. Sekkesæter.
Monday arrived and the new manager was already installed
The new manager was already installed at 8 o'clock on Monday morning and Polarn O. Pyret was able to commence his training programme.
"The knock-on effects of the neat, professional way in which InterimLeder organises its processes is that their clients also need to have the same type of profile. I have used interim management in Europe and the Eastern block countries, but no-one in Norway is able to respond so fast with so many candidates from so many different trades, and I would be very happy to use them again," concludes Mr. Sekksæter.
- This job called for a good candidate with the sort of technological expertise that is hard to find on today's labour market. I was therefore pretty impressed when InterimLeder (interim management) managed to find so many good candidates in just a few days. No-one else could do that.
Otto Chr. Sekkesæter
Board member
Polarn O. Pyret Norge