TALENTS IN MANAGEMENT CONSULTING PRACTICE

by Loethano Syukriadi

Some people enjoy working for a management consulting firm. They work as consultant who assist their clients in solving problem, bringing solution to their strategic and daily operation. Mostly, they are smart, intelligent and very well in communication. Particularly for top global consulting firm, that will not be easy to get a job and work there.

Thus, how is the talent market condition for this industry? How’s the talent supply and demand? Will this industry be attractive to the best talents in the market? Our correspondence, Mr. Loethano Syukriadi, shared his (personal) view about it as follow. He’s professional practitioner in Human Resource area, and also having extensive experience in management consulting practices.

What kind of talents required to work for management consulting firm?

Before I came up with some requirements, we need to understand what kind of jobs that are normally offered in a management consulting firm.

1. It is a project based job with a very tight schedule, budget, and number of resources
2. Knowledge-based activities combined with experience. Good at research (finding sources of knowledge and leading practices), presentations, and executions are required
3. Dynamic environment. Usually a consultant, a junior one or analyst, will deal with more than one assignment with different type of works. This will eventually lead them to a specialist role along with career progression e.g. consultant for Financial Function, Supply Chain Operations, Change management and Organization Development, or IT Advisory Services.
4. Project structure will dominate the interactions of senior-junior consultants and supervision of staffs rather than official organization structure
5. As a consultant, you are required to demonstrate leadership role, when dealing with clients

Hence, talents required for type of jobs above would be:

• A hard worker, highly motivated, passion with the jobs, enthusiasm with the assignments
• Knowledgeable of services to offer, framework, approach, and methodologies. Kept abreast with new trends, business acumen, and leading practices.
• Keep updated and developed relevant technical skills and competencies
• Process and result oriented. It is not only result that matters but process will demonstrate how well you are in diagnosing, designing, and delivering the services/products
• Well verse communication both in Bahasa Indonesia and English, oral and written. Your quality is also reflected in the language you are using in report or in verbal presentations. Why Bahasa Indonesia? If you are dealing with government and local client that is prefer to have communication in Bahasa Indonesia, they will assess you on the quality of Bahasa Indonesia you put in the reports. As for English, in global network consulting firms, there is quite high standard of English ability.
• Having global view without losing focus of attention or details. Details analysis will complete main framework
• Confident, diplomatic, trustworthy, good interpersonal relationship, integrity, accessible, persuasive
• Creative and innovative to produce alternative solutions

How do you see the balance between talent demand and talent supply in management consulting firm?

At the analyst level (junior consultant), I don’t see significant issue as there are high interests in working for a management consulting firm. That is my understanding based on observations I made on responses of a recent recruitment advertisement in a management consulting firm.

Issue is arisen when to recruit manager level and above for particular solutions e.g. supply chain management, change management, or finance function. Why it becomes an issue? Requirements are normally not only at critical skills and experiences of required function but also availability of profile and traits as consultant.

What are the major attractiveness for talents to work for consulting firm?

• Able to broaden knowledge and experiences in a targeted discipline or function
• At global network consulting firm, they offer global knowledge, networks, and leading practices. It’s like a further study for some individuals
• Opportunity to actualize your ideas into actions and results combined with strong research and experiences
• Dealing with various type of organization and various type of leadership in the organization
• Building professional network and develop individual reputations
• Dynamic environment and not a monotonous job

What kind of retention program provided for talents who work for consulting firm?

• Development of knowledge, skills, and experiences working with different type of organization
• Flexible time hours as it is driven by project timeframe unless you are under development program or under internal assignments
• Ultimate career path as a partner of the firm whereas in the company to be a director is not as straightforward as when you want to be a partner

How do you rate and compare the compensation & benefit level between working for consulting firm and client side companies?

I could not make a comment in this regard since C&B package level between consulting firm and companies are incomparable and not at equal level.

We could only compare the C&B package within similar services with other management consulting firm, for instance among global network consulting firms. This also applies when a company wants to benchmark its C&B competitiveness, it will go to its head to head competitors, or other companies in similar industries. Hardly to hear they benchmarked to a management consulting firm. So, have no idea on the rate.

If, you are referring to a situation where often consultants move to a company with higher level and higher C&B package, the issue is not about C&B package but individuals personal career goal and life.

Tell us your opinion as people said that working for consulting firm is only stepping stone before joining client side companies.

I will not negate such statements. Facts based it happens, and quite a lot. Just like other professionals in a company for instance a bank. Individual may treat their previous company as stepping stone for further moves.

In this case, I would say it is going back to each personal vision.

Anyway, it would not harm the firm nor the team when an individual works in a consulting firm as stepping stone for his/her next career in a company. It is free choices and competition.

Note: Loethano Syukriadi is an experienced Human Resource practitioner and proven management consultant, lives and works at Jakarta – Indonesia.