Interview with Stig Tornell

That’s right. After Mekonomen, I tried my hand at working as an interim consultant. The plan was to take on assignments from January to May, then take three months off over the summer, and then work again from September to December. But then I ended up staying at Lloyds Apotek for just six months, after which I was recruited and became the permanent Commercial Manager. (For just over a year now, Stig has been CEO of Doz Apotek, formerly Lloyds Apotek).

Doz has been working with interim consultants since its inception. The benefits have been numerous. If you need someone on a temporary basis, you bring in a consultant and see how things go; are the results satisfactory, are we heading in the right direction? Sometimes you end up deciding to make that person a permanent employee, and sometimes you end up thanking them for a fantastic job well done and determining that further employment isn’t necessary. Today, we have about 3–4 interim consultants, which is just under 10% of the head office staff. Most assignments last between 6 and 12 months.

Finance is definitely the easiest. In principle, the systems and analyses work exactly the same way no matter where you are. The hardest part is the commercial side and those types of roles. Things vary so much in terms of business models, suppliers, and so on. That role is tough to fill with an interim manager. It’s also more difficult in a line management role. It can even be challenging for employees to have an interim manager for an extended period. There isn’t the same continuity, and you don’t build the same relationships, etc. (If the interim consultant doesn’t stay for a longer period).

The advantage of interim consultants is that they come in with a certain mindset. They are open-minded, yet focused. They define and clarify their role, and then they deliver. The downside is that they may not develop the role further but “simply” deliver on the assignment.

It really depends on the person in question. The company needs to treat them as an employee. Make sure they’re invited to the Christmas party and after-work get-togethers, and that they attend meetings that might sometimes feel “unnecessary.” This is important if they’re going to function effectively in a line organization. If it’s an isolated project, then that’s a different matter.

The way we work is largely the same. We’re in the midst of a major shift where the entire industry is moving toward e-commerce. My impression is that most people work the same way. You need to make sure the role is viable, and once it is, you want to fill it with a permanent employee. If you realize it isn’t viable, then you need to rethink things and find another approach.

I think many people are in a similar situation to ours; these are unusual times, and we don’t know where we’re headed. There’s uncertainty surrounding cost trends, energy costs, rent, salaries, and so on. It becomes a balancing act between how much you want to make permanent and how much you want to bolster your workforce with interim solutions. But I definitely believe the need for interim solutions will increase. The major challenge for interim staffing firms is to match demand with more “tailored” interim solutions. A market role, for example, can vary so greatly between different companies and needs to be adapted even more closely to the company’s specific needs.

The biggest challenge this year is balancing revenue and expenses. It’s so hard to predict. Finding the right balance in this economic climate will be the biggest challenge.