Mastix Services’ Post

The major consulting firms are finalising their hiring plans for the post-summer period, and the direction of travel is heavily towards the pursuit of Senior Partners who can generate revenue. Competition for such talent is only going to increase, driving up Partner pay across geographical regions. Coupled with this, the expectation is for successful Partners to operate with smaller teams and be more hands-on with clients. In this context, to maintain competitiveness in terms of compensation levels, firms are moving away from the traditional consulting pyramid and towards leaner models. What has become clear to us over the past few weeks is that consulting firms believe the need for strong, commercially minded, client-relationship holders is more crucial than ever. It is intriguing to see different firms' approaches to winning in this regard, as well as the varying degrees of willingness to invest.

McKinsey & Company Bain & Company Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Accenture Kearney PwC lots being said about you all here, including comments and thoughts from me also. Would love to hear all of your views.

Partners/Consultants who can genuinely create revenue are worth their weight in gold. Think of the math(s). A top performer creates $5m in revenue at a modest 40% margin are creating $2m. These companies are valued at ~15x ebitda so that $2m is adding $30m in value. Find them and reward them I say.

As we've seen over the last several quarters, the tides are beginning to shift in tier 1 and tier 2 consulting. The traditional model is broken and focused on long term engagements with inflated teams of junior resources. That isn't going to fly in a post-covid era where real value and ROI are driving business decisions and stock prices. From enterprise sized orgs to small PE shops, leveraging flexible on-demand consulting that is fit-to-purpose is going to be the norm. We are already seeing that with early adopters in the market here at Catalant Technologies.

Interesting latest trend from Big Consulting to affect law firms: "The expectation is for successful Partners to operate with smaller teams and be more hands-on with clients." This will continue to raise the bar on law firm relationship partners and the benchmark clients will have for them.

The major consulting firms are finalising their hiring plans for the post-summer period, and the direction of travel is heavily towards the pursuit of Senior Partners who can generate revenue. Competition for such talent is only going to increase, driving up Partner pay across geographical regions. Coupled with this, the expectation is for successful Partners to operate with smaller teams and be more hands-on with clients. In this context, to maintain competitiveness in terms of compensation levels, firms are moving away from the traditional consulting pyramid and towards leaner models. What has become clear to us over the past few weeks is that consulting firms believe the need for strong, commercially minded, client-relationship holders is more crucial than ever. It is intriguing to see different firms' approaches to winning in this regard, as well as the varying degrees of willingness to invest. Credit - James O'Dowd

The success of Partner hiring in large consulting firms hinges on the new Partner’s ability to build their own teams quickly. We reviewed over 100 recent Partner-level moves in major consulting firms, and our data shows that those who moved with team members from their former firm were over twice as likely to still be in their role after three years. In our experience, Partners who successfully integrate into a new firm are those who quickly establish a strong, dedicated team around them. This approach allows them to hit the ground running and deliver immediate impact. Moreover, it enables them to maintain consistency in their service delivery and client relationships, critical factors for long-term success. Additionally, and perhaps crucially, this strategy helps avoid upsetting existing Partners, encouraging collaboration across the board. Particularly at the mid-management level in talent-short areas, tensions can quickly build if top talent is not distributed evenly. Despite this, quite often this aspect of a new Partner’s business case is overlooked in favour of revenue-generating ability or the reputation of the firm they are arriving from. In our experience, in most instances, it is the individuals who have a genuine following amongst their teams that are most successful, as opposed to those who have previously recorded monumental numbers at their former employer.

A nice contribution of Harvard Business School showing that the Management Consulting sector, including top strategy consultant McKinsey, has bigger problems than just the issue of low labor productivity that I wrote about last week in a post: https://lnkd.in/eRhiXae3 Their 1990s advice to conglomerates that "trying to serve everyone is serving no one" seemed not to hold for management consultancies. While super-conglomerate GE ceases to exist, they adopted "Neutron" Jack Welch's strategy to collect skills and capabilities by buying out consultancies to serve their clients' needs, whatever they are or might be in the future. Personally, I am impressed by the high quality of McKinsey's insight reports in a broad range of sectors. Yet, the size of the back-office activities needed to be able to keep services up-to-standard are considerable, and could likely be done by other professional services at lower costs. After all, I showed in my contribution that services in the EU have lower (apparent) labor productivity than the economy as a whole. This is odd as, in my opinion, top management consultancies should practice what they preach and be more productive than their clients. In fact, the labor productivity of management consultancies (sector M702) should be higher than head office activities (sector M701), and they have a long way to go!

If you are considering consulting for yourself, now might be a good time to look at recruitment options for a capability architect. Given the care taken to recruit in a firm like McKinsey, a low performer probably means a combination of: 1. Not enough sales and revenue 2. Someone better suited to the longer-term view of an industrial company than the short-run project nature of consulting work 3. An unfortunate set of social circumstances means someone else "fits in" better 4. Luck However, industrial companies that look to create their own evolving change by rethinking how they structure their work and creating stable growth platforms may very well benefit from the people being let go.

In the face of the ongoing talent pipeline challenge in the accounting profession, there's a silver lining 🌤️ for forward-thinking firms. As highlighted by @AccountingToday, this crisis presents a unique opportunity to attract top talent and stand out. 🎯 🗝️ Here are three key takeaways for accounting firms looking to attract talent: 1️⃣ Foster a Supportive Culture: Creating a culture of mutual support, team cohesion, and personal and professional fulfillment is crucial. Firms that emphasize culture will not only attract but also retain an engaged talent base, gaining a competitive edge. 🏆 2️⃣ Offer Flexible Work Options: Improving work-life balance through hybrid and remote work options, along with comprehensive training and development programs, can make firms more appealing to young professionals seeking diverse career pathways. 🔄 3️⃣ Invest in Compensation and Growth: Aligning compensation with the critical role of accountants and investing in talent development will help address staffing shortages. This strategic approach ensures firms can attract and retain skilled professionals, driving growth and innovation.💰💡 By embracing these strategies, accounting firms can position themselves as industry leaders and attract the best talent in the field. Do you agree with these strategies, or have other ideas💡 to share? Drop a comment below or share this post with your network. Let's keep this discussion going. 💬 #Accounting #PublicAccounting #TalentAttraction #Leadership #CareerGrowth #EmployeeEngagement