Major jump in women interim executives

In comparison only 12.2% of FTSE 100 board directors are women.

Interim executives are highly experienced individuals, typically senior executives just below board-level, who are recruited on a short-term basis.

According to Interim Partners, women are increasingly attracted to interim management roles as they offer the chance to break through the ‘glass ceiling’ on their pay.

Gail Fitzgerald, of Interim Partners, comments: “Interim executives can earn significantly more than an equivalent full time employee. An interim career allows women an opportunity to take the kind of step change in their earnings that they could otherwise only make by breaking through the glass ceiling.”

According to recent research the average female board director earns 50% less (£178,246) than the average male board director (£357,358) (based on total remuneration and benefits for FTSe-350 directors – source: RTF).

Doug Baird, Managing Director of Interim Partners says that women are increasingly interested in a career as an interims executive as success is less dependent on office politics in what are typically male-dominated levels of the corporate ladder.

Comments Doug Baird: “Interims are judged more closely on the success of the specific project they have been recruited to manage. Not only does that make a refreshing change from other corporate roles, it also means women interims can get recognition for the value that they deliver rather than their interest in rugby!”

Skills needed for Interim Management play to women’s strengths

Interim Partners points out that more females are taking up interim roles because their skills closely match the specifications needed.

Gail Fitzgerald explains: “Interims have to enter a new placement and must immediately hit the ground running. Being able to build relationships, communicate effectively and manage stakeholders are all crucial skills and these all play to women’s traditional strengths.”

“The increasing number of women taking interim careers also follows the broader trend for women to take more entrepreneurial and risk-taking roles. Being an interim is as close to running your own business as most executives will get within a corporate environment.”

“There are also now more successful female role models both as entrepreneurs and as trouble shooters, such as in the clean up of the Icelandic banking system, to inspire women to become interim executives.”

According to Interim Partners, the increasing number of women becoming interims can also be explained by the realisation that the safety of a full time job is not as robust as once thought.

Gail Fitzgerald says: “Senior executives now realise that the ‘cocoon’ they may have felt protected by in full time employment at large corporates before the recession doesn’t really exist. The recession has shown that if a company does not need your skills they will let you go.”

“Women realise that the risks of becoming a self-employed interim are not as great as they thought.”