Hiring a Temp Executive

What had if you could hire the brainpower of a senior-level, former Fortune 500 executive at a fraction of the cost of a permanent hire or a consulting firm? That's the idea behind temporary executives hired to tackle problems rather than fill positions. Such an alternative work arrangement helps

companies that need expertise but can't afford the high overhead of a full-time leader. It also can be professionally satisfying for executives who want a flexible career that enables them to use their expertise. And agencies that bring the two together meet a need in the marketplace and reap financial rewards.

Jamie Pennington identified the need for such an agency when she left a high-powered job as an investment banker on Wall Street three years ago after having her second child. She couldn't balance being a mother with the hours and travel required for her full-time position. She also couldn't find a flexible alternative that allowed her to use her business and financial skills. So, Pennington founded Flexible Executives in Atlanta, enabling her and other talented executives to take their knowledge and experience to small and mid-size companies on a project basis.

"We saw a disconnect between the huge pool of semi-retired executives and a lot of corporate women with terrific backgrounds who had left the corporate world for personal reasons," Pennington says. "On the other side, a lot of small and mid-size businesses didn't have an outlet to hire those people in a project setting." Her research shows that many small and mid-size companies do not outsource because the cost is prohibitive. "This is a way for those companies to get the same expertise at a lower cost," she maintains.

The number of executives wanting flexible work arrangements is growing as corporate managers get laid off. They join educated and experienced working mothers as well as baby boomers who want to stay engaged in the business world while also spending time on the beach or the golf course or with grandchildren. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of managerial-level temporary workers grew 78 percent from 1996 to 2006.

Finding these people is becoming easier as companies such as Flexible Executives, Mom Corps of Marietta, Ga., Interim Executives of Charlotte, N.C., and Executives Unlimited Inc. of Long Beach, Calif., sprout up. And HR professionals at small and mid-size companies can tap these executives for help on projects from conducting new-product research, to implementing a software platform, to guiding the company through a merger or acquisition.