An intermediary is judged from both sides.

From Brussels, ONEO contracts independent consultants on a time-and-materials basis and takes on interim management assignments. The client gets someone who holds the post. The consultant gets a readable contract and payment on time.

A firm that treats its clients well and its consultants badly ends up serving its clients badly. Everything below follows from that.

The trigger

The moment you call.

A senior post that falls vacant does not simply sit empty. Decisions pile up, judgement calls travel one floor higher, teams wait. A permanent hire takes three to six months, and that is the right amount of time to do it properly. The problem is not the hiring. It is the gap.

A sudden departure. At board level, or at the head of a function whose files nobody else knows.
A long absence. Illness, parental leave, an external mandate, on a post that cannot sit without a holder for six months.
A hire already underway. You do not want to rush it, and you do not want to leave the seat empty while it runs its course.
A programme nobody has time to run. A migration, a compliance deadline, a reorganisation. The work exists, the days to do it do not.
A skill you need for a few months. Not long enough to hire for, too long to improvise.
A tense period. Social, financial or human. A view from outside does not carry the same weight as a view from inside, and sometimes that is what is needed.

The services

Two ways to fill a gap.

Interim management

An experienced director or manager takes a post left vacant, or runs a programme the standing team cannot absorb. They decide, they are accountable, and they prepare their own exit from month one.

What separates this from consulting is responsibility. A consultant hands over a report. An interim manager signs decisions and answers for them.

Typical duration: 6 to 18 months
Commitment: Full or part time
Billing: Monthly fee
Framework: Service provision

Time-and-materials contracting

An independent consultant works on your project for a defined period. Alongside you, they carry out their own assignment and contract with ONEO. You pay for the days actually worked. Profiles in project management, business analysis, transformation and change.

There is no question of taking over a post here. The consultant brings one precise skill to a project that stays yours.

Typical duration: 3 to 24 months
Commitment: Days worked
Billing: Day rate
Framework: Service provision

Selection

What we look at before we introduce anyone.

A CV says what someone has done. It does not say whether they will hold up in your house, with your team, in the precise situation that made you call.

The professional skill. Necessary, never sufficient on its own.
The ability to walk into a place. Understanding an organisation you do not know, and being useful in it within weeks, is a craft distinct from the job itself.
The human context of the assignment. Taking over after an acrimonious departure has nothing in common with opening a clean programme. We do not put forward the same people.
What the assignment must have produced by the end. And whether the person has produced it before, in comparable conditions.
The consultant you meet is the one who works. No showcase profile swapped out after signature.
Three candidates at most, or none. If we do not have the right person, we say so rather than pad the list.

The process

Four steps, in this order.

01
Scoping

The post, the level, the duration, the budget, and above all what led to the situation. This conversation is not billed.
02
Selection

We put forward three candidates at most, each with their rate and their real availability.
03
Contract

Duration, rate, notice, scope. The same document is the reference for both parties.
04
Assignment

A monthly review with the client and with the consultant. Separately, then together if needed.

Frequent questions

What we get asked first.

What is the difference between an interim manager and a consultant?: The scope of responsibility. A consultant analyses a situation and hands you their conclusions. An interim manager holds the post, makes the daily calls and carries the consequences of those calls. The first helps you decide, the second decides.
Do you have to be a large company?: No, and often the opposite. A mid-sized company that cannot afford a full-time finance director can have one two days a week for eight months. The arrangement serves organisations for which a permanent hire would be out of proportion.
How long before someone is in place?: It depends on the seniority and the scarcity of the profile, and we prefer to give you a date after scoping rather than before. A project manager and a finance director during year-end close are not found in the same time.
How is the price built?: For interim management, a monthly fee tied to the level of the post and the time on site. For contracting, a day rate applied to the days actually worked. In both cases the amount is fixed before the start and does not move mid-assignment without an addendum.
What if it does not click?: It happens, and it is better said early than left to settle. The monthly review exists for that too. If an assignment has to stop, we discuss it with both parties before deciding what comes next.

Contact

A need, or an availability.

A company looking for a profile, or an independent looking for an assignment: the same form. The first scoping conversation is not billed and commits you to nothing.

You are

Name

Your message

CV, optional

PDF or Word, up to 8 MB. Useful if you are looking for an assignment, not needed if you are looking for a profile.

Answer within two working days. What you send, CV included, is used only to handle your request. It is passed to no third party without your agreement, and you can ask for it to be deleted at any time.

Where we work

Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg

Languages

French, English, Dutch