Malcolm Whitehead is one of those elusive people who work in interim change management. As an independent social work consultant he specialises in going into social care organisations, be they voluntary agencies or local authorities, who need to change their modus operandi.

Whitehead has been a social work consultant for 11 years and, although based in Wales, he operates throughout the UK. Typically, he is hired to work on a specific issue and will spend the week with the organisation, on call 24 hours a day.

Despite having to live out of a suitcase, Whitehead says it is worth it. What he likes most about his role is using the skills and experience he has developed since qualifying as a social worker in 1977 in a range of social care environments. “As people buy my specific services it enables me to go into an organisation to undertake specific functions and change things. Because I do that I am not tied to the structure of the organisation in the way I would be if I was an employee.”

Practitioners who want to follow the same route need one thing, Whitehead says: a well-founded, absolute belief in their own skills and abilities. “You have to be able to prove what your skills and abilities are again and again.” He also highlights the importance of strong organisational and time management skills as independent social workers and consultants are unlikely to have a secretary to pick up the slack.