In today’s Aerospace & Defence sector, the ability to adapt is not a luxury – it’s the foundation of sustained performance. As complex projects become the norm and strategic priorities shift at pace, organisational design and culture must evolve in tandem. This evolution is no longer about reactive restructuring; it’s about proactively building an agile framework that enables cross-functional collaboration, continuous learning, and efficient execution at scale.
Interim management has become a critical tool in supporting this evolution. By introducing experienced leadership exactly when and where it’s needed, interim executives can help organisations move with speed and confidence, especially when internal capacity is limited or traditional structures inhibit flexibility.
The recent changes to National Insurance contributions present a timely opportunity to re-examine workforce strategies. By easing the cost of employment, the change opens the door for reinvestment – particularly in reskilling, internal mobility, and leadership development. Forward-thinking organisations are already seizing this moment to rebalance their talent models, reduce dependency on permanent external hires, and accelerate internal capability building. In this context, interim management offers a strategic advantage, enabling businesses to bring in high-impact leadership while maintaining overall agility in workforce planning.
At Aston Fisher, we see this playing out through the lens of executive search and interim management. Businesses are asking not just who they need at the helm, but what kind of environment these leaders will shape. The brief is changing, and adaptability – not just operational excellence – is becoming the core trait in demand for senior talent across the industry.
The data supports this shift. Gallup’s latest Global Workplace Report confirms that European Aerospace & Defence firms with high employee engagement enjoy a 16% productivity uplift and 18% lower turnover. These are not just marginal gains – they are the dividends of cultures built for agility. Similarly, Korn Ferry’s insights show that structured cross-functional training can increase internal mobility by 25% and raise satisfaction scores significantly. These outcomes stem directly from intentional organisational design, supported by the right leadership – whether permanent or interim.
Raytheon Technologies illustrates the point well. Their structured “innovation challenges” empower teams across disciplines to tackle real-world problems – resulting in a 12% increase in internal pilot projects and patent filings in just a year. This is no accident. It is the outcome of a deliberate strategy to embed adaptability into the fabric of the business, often supported by targeted leadership interventions such as interim management to drive and stabilise change at key points.
So what does this mean for leaders planning their next organisational restructure or talent strategy?
It means:
- Shifting the focus from efficiency as cost-cutting, to efficiency as capability-building
- Designing structures that enable, not inhibit, collaboration across sites, functions, and borders
- Leveraging the current NI reduction not as a budget saving, but as a springboard for reinvestment in the future workforce
- Considering interim management as a mechanism to bring in fresh thinking, accelerate delivery, and mentor emerging talent during times of transition
Culture, after all, is not a static concept. It is the byproduct of leadership behaviour, structural alignment, and strategic priorities. The most successful transformations we have seen are those where leadership doesn’t just sponsor change – they embody it. Moreover, they invest in the systems, people, and processes that make adaptability possible. Interim leaders often play a vital role in this, not only guiding the organisation through periods of change but helping to embed the habits and frameworks that support long-term cultural agility.
As we move through 2025, the Aerospace & Defence organisations that will thrive are those that align organisational design with cultural intent – where talent development, restructure, and leadership capability all serve a singular purpose: to build a workforce ready for complexity, innovation, and sustained delivery at scale.
At Aston Fisher, we partner with clients to find and shape the leaders who can do just that. Through both executive search and interim management, we help organisations navigate uncertainty, build adaptable cultures, and ensure that transformation is not just a phase – but a capability.