Business mentor: Part-time fix for a fulltime worry

My business is growing rapidly and I need a wider range of management experience and expertise than I have available. I don't need another full-time manager, nor do I want to use consultants. Any advice?

Small business specialist Sarah Trotman spoke, to David Swaffield from Management 4 Hire.

Many businesses of all sizes face this issue.

As businesses evolve they require a broader skill and experience base to enable them to maximise their internal efficiencies, market share and profitability.

Many businesses have a real need but, unfortunately, in most cases their requirements can't support a full-time role.

In many cases, the only option is for key staff to take on extra responsibilities in unfamiliar areas, which usually results in two things.

* It doesn't adequately address the real issues, and can lead to costly mistakes and be detrimental to the area of your business that you were trying to improve.

* The key staff member assigned this extra responsibility probably already has enough responsibility and workload in their main role.

To have this extra workload in an unfamiliar area will put additional pressure on them, resulting in performance issues in their original role.

So what started out as being a reasonable solution doesn't fix your original need and could have made it worse.

Plus you've put unnecessary pressure on a well-performing team member and area.

A solution would be to use part-time managers.

For as long as businesses have been around, part-time staff have been used to fill areas that don't justify fulltime roles but require specific skills and experience.

These include accounts, administration, customer service, warehouse staff and retail assistants.

But rarely do we see this well-proven method used for management or senior roles.

Many people and companies provide executive leasing and contracting services to businesses which require additional expertise.

Traditionally, this has been on a fixed-term contract basis to carry out specific projects or roles.

We are now seeing a shift away from specific projects and straight fixed-term contracts to more flexible arrangements, enabling companies to have extra expertise and management support available in the long term.

I am not talking about consultants. I am talking about practical hands-on managers with a broad range of skills and proven experience.

These managers can work with you and your team to improve your business.

Their involvement can be designed to fit your requirements and can range from general business advice and mentoring to taking responsibility for a specific project or an active role in the business as a part-time manager.

You may have a manufacturing-based business and sales could be increased if you had a good sales manager. But the business is not able to support a fulltime manager, and your expertise is in product development and manufacturing.

Employing a part-time manager to focus on developing sales would enable you and the rest of your team to focus on your areas of expertise.

If you require support in any of the main business disciplines, give serious thought to bringing in a part-time manager.

This person can work with you to meet your requirements - be they for a few hours or a few days a week.

Because they are a practical hands-on manager with a broad range of skills and proven experience, they will work easily with you and your team.

Most importantly, they will become part of your team, share your passion for success and add value to your business.

There are many managers available who, for many reasons, find this type of work arrangement suits their lifestyle.

They can be found by contacting one of the specialist contracting companies or through your own business and community network.

* For more information on part-time managers, email David Swaffield from Management 4 Hire