The HR interim manager took over sole HR responsibility for a service company with 350 employees when the job holder was absent due to illness. She found that the HR department had been vacant for several weeks. She managed to bring the operational tasks and day-to-day business up to date in the shortest possible time. At the same time, together with the management, she prioritized the strategic HR topics, some of which had been initiated - but were still unresolved.
In view of the steady growth and the upcoming certification, the company management was very keen to define and standardize the HR processes. With this in mind, the HR interim manager analyzed the existing processes and checked whether they made sense. She then introduced standardized HR processes. This included all the documentation, guidelines and checklists - and ensured process compliance for the future. To ensure sustainable success, the HR interim manager underpinned this process with the associated communication strategy.
Tense situation eased through team development
The staff situation and mood throughout the company was very tense due to fluctuation and sickness-related absences. For this reason, a team development process had already been initiated together with an external consultant before the interim mandate. However, this process had come to a standstill - and employee dissatisfaction was palpable for the interim HR manager. The management therefore asked the interim HR manager to accompany and support the external consultant in the team development process. The team development pilot project involved advising a 15-person department.
The interim HR manager's keen sense of people and situations helped her to win over employees and management in the previously very critical process of personnel development. Her training as a systemic coach (training recognized by the dbvc) also helped here. Through trusting one-on-one discussions with all 15 employees in the department, she worked out the critical key points and presented these to the management in anonymized form. Building on this, the HR interim manager facilitated a two-hour workshop to allow the employees to actively participate in the process and work out solutions together as a team. From this team development process, the HR interim manager was able to achieve several "quick wins" for the team and the management. The revision and "sharpening" of the job profiles as well as the proposal and introduction of a new working time model were positively implemented by the HR interim manager in a short space of time.
The HR interim manager's other tasks in this project assignment also included:
- Setting up and structuring the entire recruitment process
- Defining KPIs and evaluating data using the Datev data analysis tool
- Coaching and advising the management on all HR-related issues.
