By Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA)
Demand for management consultancy services continues to grow at historic levels. Last year’s growth rate for the sector of 16 per cent is forecast to be followed by a 13 per cent expansion this year as clients continue to turn to consultants during a critical period to drive growth, digital transformation and help them to adapt to global shocks and supply chain disruptions.
That means demand for the most talented management consultants is rising and for many firms that represents a silver lining with a cloud attached.
Recruiting and retaining top talent in the most competitive of market places has never been more difficult.
Yet one large firm boasts a retention rate of 100% for its consultants that have been offered a new scheme for recognising talent and experience.
According to a recent independent MCA survey of consultants compensation and working conditions are crucial for retention but also offering the best training and development in the industry matters as does offering staff the opportunity to become Chartered.
Since the MCA, in conjunction with the CMI, officially launched the Chartered Management Consultancy award just a year ago its success has exceeded expectations in setting and ensuring higher standards across the industry.
The number of consultants on the journey had doubled as had the number of leading small, medium and large firms participating. Almost 600 consultants have become Chartered, thousands more are on the journey and dozens of firms have become accredited to offer it to their staff.
No firm is too large or too small to offer it and consultants of all ages are engaging from those who have just started their consulting career journeys to those with decades of experience.
Four key components – ethics and standards, leadership and management, consulting environment and personal and professional development – are scrutinized at three different levels – foundation, applied and chartered.
It assures clients that when they employ the services of a Chartered Management Consultant, they are getting the highest levels of expertise, experience and quality and that is giving the firms who employ them assurance as well.
Recent CMI surveys have shown that almost all firms – 98 per cent – believe that having Chartered staff and offering a pathway for others to the award has helped attract and retain talent. More than three-quarters believe that the letters ChMC give them a competitive edge in the marketplace for clients and staff.
The days of the gold watch for long service have passed. One in three employees in the UK say that they are planning to move job within the year.
The commitment of a firm and an individual to Chartered can take five years to complete making a two-way street of loyalty. The new Associate Award also allows the option for young consultants to have their hard work and achievement recognised earlier on at three years along the way.
Many of the largest firms in the sector have dramatically scaled up the numbers of their staff they are putting through the Chartered process in the years ahead.
EY are offering Chartered to every one of their graduate recruits and are vastly increasing the number of experienced consultants on the journey while PwC are offering the opportunity to every one of their consultants. That is long term commitment.
Chartered is an investment of time and resources that assures quality now and well into the future.
It is a way of turning a job into a career. A method of finding those candidates whose desire is to commit to a career, who seek a position that is not just a stepping stone.
That is why offering chartered is helping firms attract and retain the most talented individuals in the profession helping them make the most of this time of unprecedented growth.
Chartered started as being an award that could be added to people. Now it is part of the brand of firms that offer it. Part of the fabric of our profession woven into the careers of those most committed to it.
And assurance to clients that they are getting the highest standards of service that the sector can offer.
For further information go to Chartered Management Consultant Award – MCA
This article first featured in City AM on the 9th May 2022