Achieving an improved work/life balance and taking on more stimulating work are amongst the key attractions for women taking on interim management roles.

More important than financial reward is the ability to work flexibly (64 per cent), while 76 per cent said they now enjoyed a better work/life balance thanks to interim management.

Twenty one per cent said they wanted to take on more challenging work and just 11 per cent had left their jobs to earn more money, whilst only 4 per cent switched to interim management to take on a more senior position.

Interestingly pay equality was not cited as a major issue yet just 39 per cent agreed that interim management did enable equality of pay with men.

The majority of respondents said constant relocation was not an issue. Just a quarter said they were unhappy about working away from home, the same number admitted they were working longer hours but acknowledged that it was generally for limited time periods.

Many respondents relished the challenge of going into different environments to problem solve. Whilst 33 per cent of them acknowledged that there were higher expectations placed upon them than permanent staff, this did not put them off developing their careers as interim managers.

Half of the survey respondents cited office politics as the thing they least missed whilst 38 per cent were glad to see the back of their old offices and work in different environments.

Anna Bishell, business development manager at Russam GMS, said: “It is heartening that the majority of women questioned do seem to be achieving their goal of finding a better balance between their work and home lives through interim management.”

A total of 700 female interim managers were quizzed by Russam GMS, a provider of interim managers.