When you need someone to cover the day to day running of your finance department, finding someone isn’t always as straight forward as it might seem.
After all they’ll need to lead a team, influence operations and be a credible commentator of financial performance to the board. That’s a lot to find in a very small market.
So here are five common mistakes to avoid when hiring an interim Financial Controller (FC).
No uplift on a permanent salary
It doesn’t matter what your last FC was paid when you hired them 5 years ago. The people you need are interviewing for permanent jobs too, so you need to offer more in order to compete with those roles offering long term job security.
No retention bonus
If you need your interim to stay – incentivise it! Being realistic, most candidates will continue to look for permanent work whilst covering your role. And that’s fine by the way, we’ve all got our futures to consider. So rather than crossing your fingers, put a bonus in place for a successful handover at the end of the contract.
Too much focus on personality fit
This isn’t about hiring anyone who turns up on the day, it’s about being pragmatic with how much choice the interim market will be able to offer you.
Prioritise experience over everything else. Someone who’s been there, done that, bought the t shirt, so you don’t have to worry about them learning on the job.
And remember, this is not a permanent hire – it’s someone to get you through a tight spot, so does it really matter if they’re into crochet rather than football like everyone else?
Do your referencing upfront
If they’re not professional interims, there’s a good chance your candidates are on the interim market simply because interviewing isn’t really their forte. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t good at their jobs. So, make sure you get references early on to get insight into how the person actually performs in their role.
Not adapting the role to who’s available
The most commonly overlooked point when hiring an interim is not adapting the role to who is available. The interim market is substantially smaller than the permanent market, which severely limits choice, so flex your team and their skills, around who’s available.
Found someone with niche industry skills but who’s a bit shy? Get them to do the desk-based tasks and someone else can pick up the networking requirements.
So those are our top 5 common mistakes when hiring an Interim FC…so hopefully you can avoid them!
