MissionCritical–MissionAccomplished!
22 March 2010
GE Healthcare’s very positive experience of engaging a top class Interim Manager - addressing an urgent requirement and in parallel contributing to long-term success.
A key benefit of interim management is the high quality of the people it can deliver at short notice, regardless of the kind of organisation involved or the sector in which it operates. This is perfectly illustrated by the experience of GE Healthcare in Cork, which employs over 400 people (one third of whom are graduates) at its Carrigtwohill plant in the production of diagnostic media for X-Ray and MRI equipment.
To describe the role of Production Manager at the plant as 'mission-critical' is something of an understatement: not only is he/she responsible for 70% of the workforce and much of the company's inputs and output, but they must also operate to the exacting standards of the pharmaceutical industry. When the then Production Manager left at short notice, the most optimistic estimates suggested a 5-6 month time-lapse before a replacement could be found, leaving GE Healthcare with an urgent need to find a fully-qualified and experienced replacement at extremely short notice.
InterIM Executives presented the company with a seasoned executive who, with more than 20 years senior experience of the pharma industry, was actually over-qualified for the job (as many 'interims' are) and his evident ability to take over the reins and fill the post without the need for close supervision was to subsequently prove a huge plus, says GE Healthcare Managing Director Paschal McCarthy.
In the event, it was to take a full year before a suitable permanent candidate would be found. Normally, a delay this long would be a headache at best and damaging at worst but, as Paschal McCarthy points out, having a more than capable 'interim' on the job gave GE Healthcare the luxury of time it otherwise would not have had. Even when the right person was found, he adds, the interim manger was on hand to induct and mentor the newcomer into the role.
From InterIM Executives' Quarterly Newsletter, March 2010.