Boyden UK Interim Management Briefing – 2022 insights highlight 2023 trends

Boyden is known as one of the founding search firms in the world. Since its inception in 1946, it is an international boutique with strong leadership consulting and interim management service lines. Boyden was one of the first movers into interim management back in the 1990s and we have grown and strengthened the interim management team over the years to now have Partners who have worked in the industry for decades.

In 2022, we experienced a false start with determining the liability for IR35 status due to a sudden change in Government stance. As such, the question about the education of clients relating to the determination remains. It is interesting to learn that interims felt that only 15% of clients were well-informed about IR35. We have found that it depends on the type of business and who the key stakeholders are. Typically, HRDs have had to deal with IR35-related issues previously so are more informed. Plus, if the business has a more flexible workforce at a more junior level, they have had to ensure they have a fuller understanding of how to engage flexible workers.

We spend time with clients to ensure they are fully aware of the implications and determination status depending on the nature of the interim role and we use QDos Consulting to support clients and candidates through this process.

We usually work on a maximum of 200-220 billable days on average that an interim manager will work annually. Approximately 53% of interims worked more than 150 days during 2022 with only 28% working less than 50-100 days. This shows that the interim market remained buoyant during 2022.

Our question on the average length of assignment garnered an interesting response. Of the interim managers on the call, 75% worked for 6 months or more last year which is encouraging to see. We always position interims as having a real impact if they are engaged for a minimum of 6 months as that follows an initial diagnostic phase, into delivery and then moving to start leaving a legacy and managing an exit. Some more complex assignments require more time and interims will be clear about realistic timescales while always adding value until they are no longer needed in the business.

Our final question related to how interims engage with clients. As you can see from the poll results, there is an almost even split between Interim Service Providers, Interim Managers engaging directly with the client and opportunities becoming available through LinkedIn. Clients have the benefit of knowing that we can give them a wider selection of candidates through our own networks and market knowledge and offer different levels of skill and expertise as required. We also have the ability to guarantee the determination of the assignment and support the client and interim throughout the assignment.