Written by Matt Gibbs, Managing Consultant - Interim Internal, Change and External Communications.

Chris Mostyn, Director of Communications at J Murphy & Sons, offers a useful insight into how interim professionals can add value to an organisation.

If you are considering hiring an interim – whether it’s for a specific business-related project, to cover a period of absence, or to maintain business as usual activity while you undertake an in-depth permanent search – we hope you find Chris’ insight encouraging. For Chris and the team at Murphy, the motivating factor in hiring an interim was the delivery of a specific project.

What was the catalyst for hiring an interim professional?

Our new ten year business plan had been launched a few months earlier, but we felt that some colleagues were unclear about what the plan meant for them and what their role would be in delivering it. We therefore organised a series of company-wide roadshows to help impart more information to people. As we were a small marketing and communications team, we needed dedicated help to deliver the roadshows. We also needed someone to look at the communications strategy for our business plan as a whole and thought the best way to achieve these objectives would be to take on an interim.

What did the interim bring to the table that wouldn’t have been possible within your existing permanent team?

It was about more than just having additional resource. We were on a journey with marketing and communications at Murphy, so it was great to have an interim come in with a fresh pair of eyes, which was very beneficial. His broad experience across a range of industries meant he quickly understood our strategic priorities and deliverables, got under the skin of our culture and knew how to adapt and deliver best practice employee engagement.

It was helpful that we had a specific project with agreed outputs for him to get his teeth into, especially given that he was familiar with the challenges of delivering top-notch communications on similar projects. Plus he supported us with other initiatives outside his core project.

In summary, how would you describe the experience and value of having an interim?

Overall our experience was very positive. I think having a specific project was key and ensuring dedicated focus on communicating something so important for the business was vital. From a team perspective, having an interim join for a short period of time kept us on our toes – he had lots of ideas, brought with him an external perspective and a real determination to get things done.

With thanks to Chris Mostyn, for providing us with a valuable insight into how interim professionals can add value to an organisation. If you are looking to hire an interim, or if you are an interim looking for a new opportunity, please get in touch. We place interims in a wide range of sectors and across all levels.