Profession anti-crisis manager: description, requirements, where to learn

Probably every company experienced financial difficulties and problems. This is where the crisis manager comes to the rescue. Everything about this specialist will be described in this article.

About the profession

Anti-crisis manager is present in almost every large enterprise. All the activities of this specialist are aimed at conducting a qualitative analysis of the organization. Why is this necessary? First of all, to identify weaknesses. Due to financial holes, illiterate management decisions, various kinds of connivance, etc., an enterprise may have big problems in the form of a crisis, bankruptcy, or some other kind of deterioration of its financial condition. It is the representative of the profession in question that must save the organization.

As a rule, many firms order an anti-crisis manager at the very last moment - when the situation cannot be saved. Organizations with more competent leadership contain a whole block of managers and managers whose activities are aimed at preventing the deterioration of the financial condition of the enterprise.

Probably, one should not even point out that the work of the anti-crisis manager is very difficult and responsible. Not every person is capable of getting the profession in question. Only a very competent person, endowed with a number of certain qualities, is able to conduct his work qualitatively.

Functions of the crisis manager

In order to better understand who is such an anti-crisis manager, it is necessary to talk about the most basic functions and responsibilities of this specialist.

This includes:

• identification of signs of bankruptcy of the enterprise.
• Property valuation and reporting.
• Taking measures to protect the property of the enterprise.
• Excitation, if necessary, bankruptcy proceedings.
• Work with creditors. Receiving requirements from them, their consideration and analysis.
• Settlement of conflicts with various groups of people.
• Carrying out inventory work.
• Carrying out all the necessary work to optimize financial and economic flows.
• Compliance with the requirements and decisions of arbitration courts and much more.

Despite the many functions that the crisis management manager performs, you can trace only two main directions in the work of the specialist in question:

• Prevention of recourse in the financial sphere of the organization. This direction is inherent in those enterprises where there is a whole block of specialists working under the program to protect the organization from crisis.
• Rescue of the enterprise from crisis and bankruptcy. This direction is typical mainly for organizations hiring representatives of the profession in question only in critical cases.

Quality required for work

As mentioned above, the profession of crisis management is incredibly complex and responsible. And therefore, far from everyone can carry out labor activity in the considered area.

It is necessary to have certain qualities and character traits in order to be able to competently perform assigned tasks. What are these qualities that a good anti-crisis manager should be endowed with?

You can talk endlessly about a high sense of responsibility, stress tolerance, sociability, patience and other too general concepts. However, it is worth considering the fact that almost all working people, regardless of profession, must be endowed with these qualities. The crisis manager is faced with more complex, even specific requirements. These include:

• the ability to think quickly and efficiently, to orientate qualitatively in unforeseen situations;
• the ability to conduct a competent analysis of the situation with reliance on the future;
• the ability to qualitatively recognize the impact on the current situation of external and internal factors;
• ability to correctly assess the prospects of a particular organization;
• the ability to quickly recognize in something both strengths and weaknesses;
• ability to adequately respond to even the most unforeseen circumstances;
• the skill of productive and high-quality work with documents;
• ability to correctly prioritize;
• the ability to communicate in a simple form even the most complex information and much more.

Of course, this is far from all the qualities that an anti-crisis manager should possess. The profession involves a large number of other various skills. Here and conflict-free, and productivity, and internal poise. The thing is that a person who is going to devote his life to crisis management must perfectly understand and realize the importance and complexity of the profession in question. Work on yourself, on your character is what is really important for professional growth.

The first direction in the profession

The profession in question is divided into two main areas. The first of these will be discussed later.

Arbitration consultant - this is the name of one of the areas in the profession of crisis management. How exactly does this specialist differ, what is typical for him? The first thing that distinguishes an arbitration consultant is a non-profit partnership. The Union of Managers and Anti-Crisis Managers contains, oddly enough, an arbitration court. If this or that enterprise finds itself in a crisis state and plans to declare bankruptcy, the arbitration court will issue such an organization to the specialist in question.

The arbitration consultant is an individual registered as an individual entrepreneur. Unlike other crisis management specialists, the representative of the profession in question is not an interested person in relation to the company to which he is assigned. This specialist is required to obtain a license to conduct his activities from the appropriate government agency.

The union of managers and crisis managers is, of course, necessary for every enterprise. However, if this or that organization is unable, for lack of funds, to acquire even a private anti-crisis manager, it is worth seriously thinking about how to apply to the arbitration court. The arbitration consultant has all the necessary knowledge on how to help the company overcome the crisis. The advice of an anti-crisis manager, even a non-profit one, will always come in handy.

The second direction in the profession

The next branch, which involves the sphere of crisis management, is consultation at various levels.

Unlike an arbitration consultant, the specialist, which will be discussed later, is a fully commercial person. This is a truly independent expert who, for a fee, will help lead the organization out of the crisis.

A consultant of various levels is required not only to evaluate the possible restoration of the enterprise, but also:

• participate in certification commissions;
• be involved in assessing the solvency of the enterprise;
• make every possible effort to pay off debts to creditors;
• help the organization maintain its prestige, professional potential and much more.

The main difference between the arbitration consultant and the specialist in question is that the latter is a truly interested person. This is, of course, connected with the commercial component. Nevertheless, many enterprises, even those on the verge of collapse, still prefer to deal with a consultant at various levels. The advice of the anti-crisis manager involved at different levels of management is much more effective and fruitful than the advice of a non-interested person.

Profession training

To get a job, you need to unlearn a specialty in a higher educational institution. How can the profession "crisis manager" be obtained? Where is this work taught? This will be discussed later.

In fact, there is nothing difficult in obtaining the profession in question. A huge number of universities and institutes in the CIS countries contain a specialty called "crisis management." At these faculties will be given high-quality knowledge in the field of confronting the crisis. This includes diagnostics, the policy of financial and economic recovery, the basics of bankruptcy in terms of law, business planning and many other disciplines.

Probably, it is worth listing the main educational institutions in which you can get high-quality knowledge to get a job in the future. This includes such Russian universities as:

• MESI (it is worth noting this educational institution as the ancestor of the specialty in question).
• Russian State University for the Humanities.
• Moscow Institute of Banking.
• Moscow State University.
• State University of Management.
• Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation and many other universities.

In another major CIS country, in Ukraine, you can unlearn the specialty in question at such universities as:

• Kiev National University of Trade and Economics.
• Vinnitsa University of Finance and Economics.
• Ukrainian University of Economics and Finance.

Career prospects

One of the main advantages of the profession is the possibility of fast career growth. Largely because of this, so many people who have received the proper education are trying to get into the sphere under consideration, and the union of managers and anti-crisis managers is constantly replenished with new faces.

So, what are the prospects for graduates of universities who have studied in the relevant specialty?

For starters, it’s worth working as an arbitration manager. You should not make grandiose plans immediately after graduation, because the ability to qualitatively take enterprises out of the deepest crisis does not come right away. Within the judicial format, there is a great opportunity to gain experience. You need to familiarize yourself with many regulatory legal acts, look at the work of specialists of the highest rank. In addition, the activities of the arbitral tribunal are closely related to bankruptcy and other forms of financial policy. It is worth making a couple of necessary conclusions for yourself. Conflict resolution work is very complex and responsible. Constant stressful situations, failures, a large number of functions and responsibilities - of course, you need to grow up to all this.

As soon as significant work experience and necessary experience will appear, it will be possible to rise higher. The next step is work already directly related to crisis management. Of course, for some time it would be worth working as an uninterested person. To do this, you need to get a job in NP "Union of managers and crisis managers." A non-profit partnership will also provide the necessary work experience. In addition, the "distant position" will make itself felt - stress will be noticeably less here.

Some experts are not going to stop and go even further. The next step is to register yourself as an individual entrepreneur and open your own department: SRO "Union of Anti-Crisis Managers". Work here will be much more complicated, but also much more prestigious.

Where can I work?

As of 2016, many enterprises are on the verge of bankruptcy. And it is precisely such enterprises that are most likely to take anti-crisis managers into their central agency.

Those wishing to get a job in large companies as an interested party should pay attention to the following organizations:

• CJSC "VTB 24".
• Moscow Aviation Center.
• LLC "Audit Balt".
• JSC "KPMG".
• LLC "Expert Finance".
• Severostal-Resource CJSC and others.

Recognizing an enterprise that has financial and economic problems is not so difficult today. Lists of such organizations are always on the Internet. And news companies often talk about these kinds of enterprises.

Of course, getting a job in an organization that has filed for bankruptcy is much easier. That is why when looking for vacancies it is worth paying attention to the so-called problem enterprises; their leaders will gladly accept in their ranks a person whose profession is an anti-crisis manager. Requirements, however, for specialists of this kind will also be high.

Cons of the profession

Work in a hostile environment - this is how you can briefly characterize the profession in question.

Constant conversations and meetings about debts, a lot of dissatisfied employees, often almost damning management in person, a passive kind of war with creditors and other personalities, thanks to which the company went bankrupt. All this in total gives rise to one unique, but incredibly large disadvantage of the profession: constant stress. That is why there is so much talk about the fact that the profession "crisis manager" is far from suitable for everyone. The necessary qualities for this work exceed all conceivable and inconceivable limits. And the one, the most important requirement, prevails among the necessary character traits for work: stress resistance. Only people with a seasoned, truly harsh and cold-blooded character will be able to bear all the hardships of the profession.

Of course, in the profession in question there are many other shortcomings. This is a high responsibility for all actions, strained relations with superiors, a lot of workload and much more. Probably, every specialist will be able to find something negative in this work.

Pros of the profession

However, it is worth mentioning the merits of the profession. There are, of course, much more than disadvantages. These include:

• High level of demand in the labor market. Those who want to get a job will get it without any problems.
• Prestige. The profession in question has a humanistic connotation, so that its prestige is constantly growing every year.
• High profit payment. Needless to say, anti-crisis managers have a very good income. In addition, the salary will increase with a professional increase.
• The possibility of an early career growth.

There are many other advantages in this profession. Each specialist will find in his work something of his own that will surely attract him.

Thus, crisis management is a very prestigious, but at the same time, difficult and responsible work.