Jennifer Brook-Botfield, Director & Global Head, Renoir, discusses the value of interim leadership and how it compares to permanent hires, particularly in the context of scaling, restructuring, and transformation.

She explains Renoir’s approach within the broader Renovata & Company platform, how they support executives transitioning into interim roles, and the key challenges businesses face when hiring interim leaders—including time to hire, cultural fit, and the importance of using specialist recruiters.

1. What drives businesses to opt for interim leadership over traditional permanent hires?

Firstly, this is a great question. Thinking about the deal life cycle stage of the business, which is usually where we tend to start and holistically reflect on if they are a high growth scaling business, if they’re changing ownership, or if they are an enterprise undergoing a digital transformation, there are going to be some integral moments throughout that businesses trajectory where they require immediate change, immediate ROI.  

Permanent leadership is there to take those businesses on a journey and ultimately towards a successful exit. Interim leadership can hypercharge that growth, allowing the business to set up the right foundations for success. If they’re changing, fundamentally allow them to stabilise during what will probably be quite a turbulent time for the business. Finally, if they’re transforming, take them on the journey because that can take a number of years, and those roles tend to be redundant once complete. 

2. How does Renoir’s approach adapt to different business stages—whether scaling, restructuring or transforming?

Taking a holistic approach, companies that are scaling are often typically lacking in seasoned executives who have scaled businesses before and frankly can lead to challenges in their structure, operations and governance. If we’re supporting a high growth business that is scaling, a fractional executive who can be with that business, partner with them for however long they need to support them in that journey, ensuring that when the permanent leader, the right permanent leader joins, the retention is high and that person is set up to succeed. 

3. How does Renoir fit within the broader Renovata & Company platform?

As the newest brand to the platform, we get this question a lot, which is great! We operate collaboratively across the platform ensuring our clients receive a truly holistic talent solution. 

Renovata & Company is a leading executive search and advisory platform that supports investor backed businesses across the deal lifecycle. The interim management and fractional services that Renoir provide really support by complementing the executive search and team build out services we offer to support clients across commercial, technology & product, operations and strategy. In essence, ensuring these businesses truly receive the right talent at every stage of the journey. 

4. What sets Renoir apart when guiding candidates transitioning from permanent roles to interim leadership?

This is something that’s definitely increased over the last few years at the executive level. I think post COVID combined with the recent downturn in the market, many have found themselves at a crossroads as to what their next step might be. 

We typically call this “the third third” of your career and whilst we do work with many seasoned interims, I think there is a huge cohort of accomplished executives that are now looking to make that shift.  Transitioning to interim leadership does require a long-term strategic shift in mindsets and their ability to feel comfortable with ambiguity, working in the grey, being agile and maintaining a balance between strategic and operational execution, which is fundamentally the key in terms of being successful in an interim and fractional capacity. 

 5. What are the most common challenges businesses face when recruiting and hiring an interim leader? 

There are some common themes, and one that typically comes to mind is the time to hire. Hesitancy when bringing in interim support can lead to potential operational strain because the business requires the agreement and alignment of the whole board, the ExCo and the investors. Conversely having mismanaged expectations around what the role and responsibility of the interview executive can lead to hardship when agreeing on what good/great looks like. These fundamentals are key to ensure success in the short and longer term. 

Another one that’s important is understanding the importance of the cultural fit and focusing solely on the skill sets. When we think about interim, we think about that person being there for a shorter period and their skill set is fundamentally the most important consideration. But if we can make a strong cultural impact, that’s going to make the difference here between longer term success and mitigate the risks of failure.   

The final challenge is considering specialism and vetting the interim recruiters that are out there, of which there are many in the interim space and most that do a really good job in their area of expertise. I think it’s making sure that you are utilising a specialist rather than generalist approaches to ensure alignment to the contextual challenge of that business.

Interested in interim opportunities or seeking expert interim leadership for your team?
Connect with Jennifer at jen.brook-botfield@renoirinterim.com

Renoir’s expert team offers guidance to ensure that whatever the solution, we add value as your dedicated interim and fractional talent partner. Contact our team of experts to learn more.