Crisis manager: features of the profession

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Modern business is a harsh reality where the strongest survive. Every day, hundreds or even thousands of companies are on the verge of bankruptcy or takeover. In such realities, only a competent specialist, a crisis manager, can save a “sinking” organization. Therefore, it is not surprising that in a difficult moment, the directors are ready for any costs, just to get such an employee on their staff.

Naturally, such demand has led to the fact that today many ambitious people want to master this particular profession. However, is it really capable of giving them the financial independence they dream of? In order to understand this, let's look at all the intricacies of this profession.

Who is a crisis manager?

This profession came to modern business relatively recently. This is due to the rapid development of economics as a science in the 21st century. It was the generalization of theories and laws about money that allowed qualified specialists to take up competentmanagement of financial flows in various organizations.

As for the profession itself, a crisis manager is a person who can bring a company out of a loss-making state. Often he is hired in situations where the company is on the verge of bankruptcy or begins to slide into a financial abyss.

Who needs a crisis manager?

Services of a crisis manager are relevant not only in difficult times for the company. By taking on the improvement of the company, such a person is able to bring it to the leaders of sales, thereby increasing its income. Therefore, many large organizations abroad have the position of a crisis manager in order not only to improve the production process, but also to predict possible risks.

In Russia, unfortunately, this is rare. Here, the help of this specialist is resorted to only in those cases when the business is already on the verge of collapse. Most likely, this is due to the inexperience of Russian entrepreneurs, who often ignore the experience of Western partners.

At the same time, most often a crisis manager is hired by investors who are disappointed in their investments. Such a move is needed not only to restore the stability of income, but also to assess future risks. And if such a specialist decides that their investment is at risk, then they are more likely to believe him than the CEO.

How to become a crisis manager?

Today, many economic universities offer their students the speci alty "crisis management". After receiving a bachelor's degree, a person can safely proceed toperformance of their duties. But the cost of education in this area is often several times higher than for other economic professions.

However, already established professionals recommend that beginners do not bother about this. After all, you can become a crisis manager even without a specialist diploma. The main thing is that a person has a higher education and is well versed in economic and legal laws. Such a statement is due to the fact that in this area in the first place are the skills of a person, and only then - his education.

Priority Skills

A crisis manager is a specialist working in the economic sphere. Therefore, he should be well versed in financial theories and strategies. After all, this is the only way to see the gaps in the company's reporting and find a way to close them.

Besides this, the manager must understand legal acts and laws. Otherwise, how can he avoid dangerous deals and contracts based on the opponent's legal illiteracy? Naturally, he does not need to memorize the entire legal code, because there are lawyers for this. But he must know the basic concepts.

Another crisis manager must understand the structure of the company. After all, this is the only way to set up the competent work of departments, as well as keep track of which of them is the most “hacky”. This is especially important in large organizations where a separate department or team is responsible for each operation.

Personal qualities

Now let'sLet's talk about what kind of person a crisis manager should be. Training is only half the way, because you still need to establish yourself as a reliable specialist. And without certain data, this simply cannot be achieved.

Probably everyone has heard the saying "The end justifies the means". So, for a crisis manager, this saying is a life credo. After all, his task is to bring the company out of bankruptcy by any means. For example, if its employees do not perform well or there are too many of them, then the specialist should fire them, regardless of their pleas or personal problems. Therefore, a good crisis manager is a cold-blooded and unshakable person.

Another important personal quality is observation. Without it, the specialist will not be able to capture the information that is necessary to build the right strategy. By the way, experienced crisis managers assure that they are able to find all the shortcomings of the company within 2-3 weeks.

Features of the profession

Many believe that the main advantage is the salary that the crisis manager receives. The job description and contract of this specialist can quickly dispel this myth. Indeed, today many businessmen tie the earnings of a crisis manager to the results of his work. That is, if a specialist brought the company out of the crisis, then he will receive a good bonus, if not, then his work will be wasted.

Of course, experienced managers know how to avoid such legal traps, but newcomers often fall into them. In addition, a big disadvantage is the lowneed in the labor market. More precisely, the complete lack of proposals for specialists with little experience. Therefore, at first you will have to take on any order, regardless of its complexity and level of payment.