Why Colleges and Universities Are Hiring Interim Leaders
Our firm has been increasingly fielding requests from higher education institutions for interim leaders to fill critical open positions or to supplement the current leadership...
Our firm has increasingly fielded requests from higher education institutions for interim leaders to fill critical open positions or to supplement the current leadership team. This trend is gaining momentum as colleges and universities must move ahead with key initiatives while the process of hiring a new, permanent leader plays out. Due to evolving variables in the hiring process, it often takes longer than expected to execute a search and onboard a new permanent leader. A major factor driving institutions to hire interim leaders from outside their campuses is related to the frequency and severity of challenges institutions face on a day-to-day basis. In many cases, there is significant risk in reassigning an executive from inside the organization who hasn’t previously held the role of president. This applies to other key administrative positions as well. In some cases, financial challenges have evolved to become budgetary crises that threaten the sustainability of the institution. Furthermore, nationwide enrollment challenges require a deep skillset that only experienced administrators know how to manage effectively. Fundraising has also become a critically important skill as philanthropy often funds new programs and areas of excellence across campus.
These scenarios often require a fresh perspective and proven expertise from an interim leader who has lived through similar challenges. External interim leaders provide unique knowledge and experience that can help lay a strong foundation for a future permanent leader. Moreover, the traditional practice of asking a sitting administrator to fill a leadership void only creates additional leadership voids elsewhere in the organization. More often than not, asking current cabinet members to take on interim roles taxes executive bandwidth and lowers productivity as they tackle two jobs at once.
In the past year, WittKieffer has helped numerous institutions find interim leaders in situations in which their current leadership capacity and capabilities were strained. The following examples demonstrate how interim executives support today’s colleges and universities:
- Maintain momentum for key strategic and operational goals and objectives. Recruitment for a new college president or other key cabinet member can take up to a year, and in some extreme cases, it can take longer. Institutions need to put strategies into practice regardless of a leadership vacancy. An experienced interim president, VP, or other leader helps keep critical projects and initiatives moving ahead until a permanent replacement can be found.
- Access specific expertise. Higher education institutions increasingly face extraordinary challenges that require a deep set of skills to manage. Some of these challenges include a major technology implementation, a revamp of enrollment or student retention strategy, cultivating donors for an important fundraising campaign, or a review and implementation of new academic programs, among others. An interim leader can leverage highly specific experience directly aligned to tackling those challenges.
- Mentor a new leader. Institutions frequently hire key leaders based largely on potential with the understanding they’ll need time to adapt and grow into their role. Interim leaders can serve as mentors and coaches to newly hired campus leaders to streamline onboarding, establish priorities, build confidence, and help the permanent executive successfully transition into their new role.
- Deploy a change agent to make tough decisions. With vast management and leadership knowledge and experience, interim leaders can be agents of change. They can make tough, necessary decisions without fear of repercussions, that protect the existing leadership team and permanent hire from the fallout of decisions that can be unpopular with some constituents. Interim executives can challenge the status quo and develop action steps needed to bring important and necessary change when needed.
With higher education experiencing intermittent crises and frequent turnover among leadership teams, employing interim leaders from outside one’s institution becomes an important talent strategy. Interim leaders can provide support and expertise to keep an institution running smoothly until a permanent hire can be made or until a crisis has been averted or successfully navigated.
Contact us to learn more about WittKieffer’s interim and on-demand leadership solutions and how an interim leader is a valuable asset in times of transition, crisis, or institutional change.
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