Why I Love My Job as an Interim Manager – by Natalia Minnig, Senior Interim Manager, HR Unlimited AG

To me, interim management means much more than simply taking on a role in a company for a specific period of time. It means taking on responsibility, facing new challenges every day, and constantly pushing myself to new heights.

That is exactly what I love about my job.

No two assignments are alike. Every company has its own culture, processes, challenges, and people. As an interim manager, I therefore have to quickly find my footing in a new organization, understand the big picture, identify priorities, and provide support where my help is needed most at any given moment.

In doing so, I repeatedly find that I draw on skills I didn’t even realize I possessed to such a high degree. Technical expertise is only part of it. For me, organizational skills, communication, resilience, flexibility, empathy, solution-oriented thinking, and the ability to make quick decisions even in unexpected situations are just as essential.

It becomes particularly challenging—and at the same time rewarding—when multiple engagements are running simultaneously. For me, no client should ever feel like they’re taking a back seat. My goal is to take responsibility for every engagement and ensure that the companies and their employees receive the support they need.

Sometimes that also means finding solutions even when my own capacity is already stretched to the limit. When a former client needs support again and reaches out to me, I try, whenever possible, to find a way to help.

For me, that’s one of the greatest forms of recognition in this profession: when a client comes back.

“It’s great to have you back.”

When I return to a company and employees greet me with these words, it means the world to me. In that moment, I feel the gratitude, the appreciation, and above all, the trust that has developed over the course of an assignment. That’s why I don’t view a repeat request as just another assignment. To me, it’s confirmation that my work has made a difference.

As an interim manager, I also know that my role is temporary. We come into a company, provide support where we’re needed, and eventually we move on. That’s why many strategic or corporate policy decisions aren’t up to us.

And yet, over time, a connection forms.

You work with people, face challenges together, seek solutions, and take on responsibility. At some point, you no longer want to just “get the job done.” You want the company to move in the right direction and for what you’ve built or helped develop to function sustainably.

That’s exactly why it’s important to me to integrate myself into every team and not just take on an external role. I want to understand, listen, and support, while also contributing my experience and expertise.

I hold myself to high standards: I want to quickly get a feel for new situations, identify challenges early on, find solutions, and truly take the pressure off the company and its employees.

Interim management challenges me anew every day. And it is precisely this challenge that helps me grow.

With every assignment, I expand not only my professional expertise but also my interpersonal skills. I get to know new companies, industries, systems, processes, and people. I have to constantly reorient myself, remain flexible, and adapt my approach to different situations.

This diversity is an enormous source of enrichment for me.

That’s why, at the end of an assignment, what matters to me isn’t just which tasks were completed or which projects were wrapped up. What’s also crucial is the trust that was built and the impression you leave behind. When a client calls again later and says, “We need your help again,” that’s one of the greatest compliments I can receive for my work.

To me, it means: You’ve done something right. Your work has been appreciated. People trust you. And they want to work with you again. That’s exactly what motivates me to give my best every day. My goal is—and always will be—to create real added value through professional expertise, dedication, flexibility, and compassion—for the company as well as for the people who work there.

I’m here for a limited time—but I want to leave behind something that lasts.HR Unlimited AG is an owner-managed company specializing in interim management, headquartered in Glattpark Opfikon, Switzerland, and has been providing interim management services both domestically and internationally since 2002. HR Unlimited AG consists of Andreas Biel, Andreas Gnepf, Gramoz Lekaj, Kadir Kirmizitas, Natalia Minnig, Fabio Feller, Myriam Landtwing, Stefan Binder, Neva Ferro Casagrande, Marion Bailey, Natasha Wäfler, and a large, qualified pool of interim managers with whom we have a personal relationship.