How interim turned R&D around
And now a story from real life… One of the leading companies within the maritime sector found themselves with an acute organizational problem – and consequently needed a new Head of R&D. Better today than tomorrow.
This company turned to interim management.
An Interim Head of R&D was brought into the loop – initially for a period of six months and later prolonged to a total of 18 months.
Challenges
The company’s R&D division faced numerous challenges:
- There was not enough progress when it came to finalizing development projects
- There was no overview of tasks, the support needed, maintenance, resources etc.
- The employees reported about low satisfaction in their daily job – and several employees were on stress-leave
- There was a high employee turnover – with valuable experience and expertise just vanishing into thin air
This was just some of the tasks which needed to be done. An Interim Head of R&D was able to step in and step up within a few days – and bring his many years of experience and expertise into play.
What happen?
The Interim Head of R&D developed a series of initiatives to cater for the many challenges.
Amongst others the interim introduced a unique resource load matrix to create a good overview of tasks and resources employed.
He also suggested a new development model to handle eg. the issues of low documentation levels, high employee turnover and loss of experience.
Within Product Development, he implemented and staffed a new organization – including the introduction of subdivisions within R&D. The candidate also introduced numerous models and systems to ensure among others technical deliverables and optimum resource allocation.
Long-Term Focus
Conclusively, the 18 months as Interim Head of R&D paved the way for an aligned organization with an effectively working team, higher employee satisfaction and lower employee turnover as well as an organization and models which catered for the challenges.
