Chartered status is key to the future of management consultancy according to this year’s Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Members Survey of leaders across the sector.
Three-quarters of leaders stressed its importance to the industry, emphasising the need to retain talent in a competitive and growing market and the need to bring new skills to meet clients’ needs.
The survey found:
- A growing number of consultants believe they will pursue Chartered
- Three quarters (73%) of MCA leaders believe that Chartered is very important or important to the industry’s future
- Young Consultants state the growing demand for continuous professional development will be one of the main challenges affecting the industry in the next 2 years
The MCA Member Survey 2022 reveals an uplift in the number of consultants who believe that there is more demand for training and skills development as firms adapt their training and onboarding due to hybrid working – up from 21% to 32%. When young consultants were surveyed, they said they expected an increasing demand for continued professional development to be one of the main challenges affecting the industry in coming months.
Over the last couple of years, the MCA has surveyed consultants to assess the impact of the pandemic and the switch to remote working on levels of satisfaction with the quality and amount of training delivered by leading firms in the sector. Encouraging 59% of consultants believe they have received the same amount of training or more training than before but over a quarter of consultants 27% state that training has not been to the usual standards or that they have received less training than before the pandemic, demonstrating there is still room for improvement. The ChMC scheme can assist firms in fortifying their learning and development schemes and ensuring they meet industry-wide standards.
Ann Francke OBE, Chief Executive CMI said:
“The appetite for Chartered status being shown by leaders across the consultancy sector is incredibly encouraging, especially among younger consultants.
“The Chartered status programme answers a real need for training and development among consultants and is key to the future growth and success of the management consultant sector. It also plays a vital role for consulting businesses in helping attract and retain the best talent in the market.
“The survey results show just how importantly consultants take their training and career development and it’s great to see the phenomenal uptake of chartered status throughout the industry just one year since it was launched.
“The management consulting sector plays a key role in the UK’s economy. Chartered status helps maintain and underpin that position, benefiting students and raising standards across the industry.”
Tamzen Isacsson, Chief Executive of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), said:
“These figures show being Chartered is becoming embedded in the consultancy of today as the industry strives to meet the needs of tomorrow.
“Less than a year since its official launch, the vast majority of leaders recognise the importance of the Chartered Management Consultant award (ChMC) and the number of people saying they are going to pursue Chartered is growing.
“Overall, the survey stresses the challenge of retaining talent within firms and Chartered is a way of doing so. This is industry is laser focused on hiring the most talented young people in the country and importantly finding new talent from a variety of backgrounds and Chartered has a vital part to play in that movement.”
Consultants said that learning and developing new skills is the third most important driver of job satisfaction. Two in five (39%) reported that it is in their top three suggestions for attracting and retaining the best talent and having an independent quality assurance such as ChMC assists firms to achieve this. To support this agenda and provide a consistent industry-wide approach, the Chartered Management Consultant award (ChMC) was formally launched in 2021 by the MCA and the CMI.
How will the consulting role change in the next five years?
“Consultants will need deeper expertise and need to more frequently upgrade their skills to stay relevant. The more remote nature may create issues for the traditional business development career paths towards partner.” – Senior Partner, larger firm
“The roll-out of hybrid working affects staff retention, changes how consultants make new relationships with clients and impacts whether consultants have enough access to clients to meaningfully deliver high quality and specific work.” – Manager, larger firm
“Increased pressure to professionalise and go to Chartered status.” – Director, larger firm
“Less graduates and more real-life experience.” – Director, larger firm
“Skills in managing data as well as all the traditional consulting skills will become a prerequisite.” – Senior consultant, a smaller firm
Independent market research agency Savanta partnered with the MCA to collect and analyse member data for the 2022 report. Find out more about what ChMC looks like for you or your organisation, and start your journey to ChMC, by registering your interest today by going to Chartered Management Consultant Award – MCA, no later than 31 March 2022.