Public sector use of interim managers drops

While there has been a tightening of procedure compliance, dialogue with the government has never been stronger

Within the public sector, only healthcare has seen an increase in the use of interim managers. Photograph: Alamy
Recent figures from the Interim Management Association (IMA) show that the use of interim managers in the public sector has dropped to 39%.

This is a big shift from early 2009 when public and private enterprise made equal use of interim resource. Across the public sector, only healthcare continues to buck the trend, with a 5% increase in the use of specialist, high-end interim resource.

The decrease is due in no small part to increased scrutiny on procedure compliance as to where public money is being spent, including a tightening of required sign-off from senior government figures.

Of course, this is just and correct. With so many people within the public sector facing career uncertainty, it's right that every opportunity touse existing employees should indeed be given priority against bringing in external resources. It is hard to justify bringing in fresh talent - even with bespoke skill sets that may be required to manage transitional change.

Economic circumstance certainly means that the government has been more circumspect about finding best value for money, both in terms of awarding multiple large-let contracts and also in appointing SME or specialist providers to deliver increased value while reaching into areas of the hidden UK talent pools to derive maximum benefit.

There has been a lot of talk about frameworks and concerns over the impact of reform. But the new government procurement service has been much more pro-active and positive in trying to increase access to government spend both for SMEs and for existing suppliers.

This has been done in a number of ways but primarily through reviewing the structure of existing framework agreements where the government has paid more attention to the detail around supply chains of master vendors.

In some cases, we have seen a subsequent reduction in those framework agreements in favour of new agreements that place more emphasis on specialist skills. In turn, this has encouraged direct market interaction and enables niche providers to place highly skilled candidates into finely tuned roles.

Uncertainties remain but dialogue between the government and the IMA has never been stronger. The government procurement service has been very open to engaging with members and has listened to what SMEs have had to say about working with it. It also recognises that specialist interim resource can help drive change and efficiency if used wisely - and potentially build a platform for future rebuilding.

The overall picture is one of an increasing reliance on procurement professionals to deliver against tightly defined parameters but also one where fundamentally, spend has decreased.

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