Employers spend a fortune recruiting and retaining interim managers but fail to make the most of them, according to the latest research released by HR consultancy Chiumento.

The poll of 100 interim managers found 69% of them felt that employers were failing to harness their knowledge and experience effectively. In addition, more than a third of interim managers believe they could be used more effectively by organisations.

A similar number of interim managers - 63% - believe industry could not now manage without using interim managers.

“Companies no longer see interim managers as ‘stopgaps’ but use them to deal with a broad range of HR issues,” comments Graham Bird, director of interim management at Chiumento.

“However, organisations are missing a trick by not fully tapping into interim managers’ skills and proactively harnessing their experience. This can be addressed by setting objectives at the start of an assignment that include provision for knowledge transfer between the interim manager and organisation upon completion.”

The research also revealed the changing face of interim management, with the public sector increasingly tapping into this resource. One-fifth of interims secured assignments within central and local government in 2005.

More than two-thirds of interim managers are brought in to manage short-term projects requiring specialist expertise, such as redundancy programmes and outsourcing. Less than a quarter are now used to step into a permanent role on a temporary basis, such as providing maternity leave or long-term sickness cover, the research found.

Interim managers are increasingly valued by organisations, with 62% of them recording an increase in their daily rate in the last twelve months.