Data from the recent IIM Interim Management Survey 2024 shows that 25% of Interim Managers are female; a number that shows steady progress from when the IIM began collecting data, while also highlighting opportunities for further growth.

Over the coming months I’m going to be speaking to IM’s from our network to understand more about their routes into Interim Management and how their personal experiences can be shared and learned from to encourage more women to take the leap. 

In my first interview I had a conversation with Anna Chokina, an IM specialising in the FMCG sector with senior experience at companies including Proctor & Gamble, L’Oreal, PepsiCo and Avon.

Perception shouldn’t be everything

Progress is certainly being made, but some gender stereotypes can be hard to shift. In the boardroom and private equity funds this can manifest itself in unconscious bias that underestimates women’s ability to take the hard decisions needed to turn a business around. This means women are less likely to be invited to interview for IM roles and less likely to succeed when they are.

Women also have lower perceptions of their own ability and experience. They undersell themselves and share credit for achievements at interviews, rather than highlighting their role in success. They’re also less likely to apply for a job in the first place if they do not meet at least 70% of the requirements, a figure that drops to 30% for men.  

Equally women are more reticent when it comes to networking and marketing themselves in a way that opens the door to IM opportunities.  

Tackling barriers makes a difference

Changing these perceptions is possible and it starts by addressing barriers that are holding women back in the workplace. 

One example is a large company Anna previously worked for which had a 50%-50% gender split at entry level, but the balance shifted to 70% male-30% female at managerial level. The company identified the stage of life when women have children as a key issue. Women either didn’t return to work or returned in a different part-time role. 

In response the business enabled women to return from maternity leave into their previous role part-time and transition into full-time, so they weren’t taking a step back. They also offered an emergency nannying service to overcome the fact women still take the greatest responsibility for childcare, enabling them to maintain work commitments. 

Over three to four years these changes, which Anna helped to introduce, led to the gender split in management positions shifting to 49% male and 51% female. That means more positive women role models in high profile positions, more women rising to senior levels and challenging outdated perceptions, and more women gaining the experience to move into Interim Management.  

Play to your strengths

Once you achieve a senior executive or IM role, the key is to be yourself rather than mimic what you think success looks like in that position. Traditional concepts of successful leadership are often built around abrasive men, barking orders and ruffling feathers. But if relationship building and collaboration is your forte, keep playing to your strengths. As Anna says: “Know your values and stick to them.”  

As the IIM Report shows, progress on gender diversity isn’t as rapid as we’d like it to be. This is particularly the case in industries that are traditionally male dominated, such as engineering and IT, with most women IMs in the HR and marketing space. 

But the more companies break down barriers that hold women back the more we will see women developing experience and coming through into IM positions in those sectors. 

At Valtus we work hard to overcome preconceptions and identify a candidate’s strengths through our comprehensive recruitment process. We get to know candidates, like Anna, closely to make sure we match the right person to the job and support them until the objectives are achieved.

Although there are lots of highly capable women in our network, we know there is still a huge amount of potential that the IM sector is missing out on.

If you’re a woman working at a senior level and are interested in an IM career, we’d love to discuss how we can support you. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and reach out.

And remember to keep an eye out for the next interview in this series, where I’ll speak with Magdaline Pistolas about her 30 years’ experience in interim management working in tech with companies including IBM, JP Morgan, T Systems and O2.