The interim manager as a pillar of the succession plan in family businesses and SMEs
Management succession, especially in family businesses and SMEs, demands meticulous attention characterized by respect for the legacy and rigorous execution. Therefore, the interim manager plays a vital role as a facilitator, providing calm, experience, and a clear methodology to ensure that each phase of the transition is carried out in an orderly and responsible manner.
Calm and experience from day one
“Besides bringing calm and experience, the interim manager is distinguished by their rigor in each phase of the transition,” emphasizes Begoña Hernández, partner at EPUNTO Interim Management. The presence of a senior professional reduces the pressure on the family or outgoing management and allows for decisions with quantifiable results. Thanks to the interim manager's accumulated experience, they act as a stabilizing force, prioritizing critical issues, avoiding improvisation, and offering leadership that the internal team recognizes as temporary but crucial.
“The interim manager is not here to fill a gap, but to ensure that the bridge between generations is solid and passable for the new leadership.”
This control over operations translates into greater trust from stakeholders (employees, customers and suppliers) and more organized communication with financial entities and regulatory bodies; key elements to ensure that succession does not affect business continuity.
How is an orderly and stable transition developed?
Developing an orderly transition requires safeguarding the company's operations against the inherent uncertainty of change. "The key lies in maintaining business stability while the strategic transition moves are executed," notes Begoña Hernández. The interim manager leads this process, ensuring that daily operations are not interrupted, managing time prudently, and avoiding hasty decisions that could generate unrest among staff or in the market.
Under this approach to stability, the transition proceeds in a structured manner, allowing for real-time testing of the successor's adaptation and the organization's response. This rigorous control of each phase prevents power vacuums and ensures that the transfer of responsibilities takes place on solid ground, thus protecting the value and reputation of the family business throughout the entire process.
Mentoring and skills transfer
One of the most valuable contributions of an interim manager is undoubtedly the transfer of knowledge and mentorship to the successor. In companies where experience is strongly tied to specific individuals, the interim manager designs support programs that combine technical training, exposure to decision-making, and progressively increasing responsibilities. This approach shortens learning curves and leaves documented procedures that remain in place after the interim manager's term ends.
Furthermore, the external figure could mediate in complex family dynamics, offer objective feedback and establish guidelines for coexistence between ownership and professional management, elements that facilitate professionalization without breaking emotional ties.
Governance, neutrality and risk control
The neutrality of the interim manager is useful for setting up governing bodies or strengthening existing ones: board of directors, audit committees, or transition committees. These structures allow for the institutionalization of decisions and the separation of responsibilities.
In SMEs and family businesses, where resistance to change may be high, the intervention of an interim manager brings credibility and facilitates the adoption of measures that would otherwise be perceived as conflictive.
Results: continuity, legacy and future
At the end of the process, the goal is not to replace the legacy, but to preserve it through professional and sustainable decisions.
EPUNTO has a portfolio of specialized profiles to support succession plans in family businesses and SMEs, combining sector experience, immediate management capacity and a focus on skills transfer.
BEGOÑA HERNANDEZ, partner of EPUNTO Interim Management, a Valtus Alliance member