Yesterday's careers event for consulting candidates was fascinating for all sorts of reasons. 13 major consulting brands were there and that gave us some great insights into the changing dynamics of recruiting & retaining consultants.
The biggest thing that struck me though was the focus on getting the work-life balance issue right. Just about every firm present stressed the initiatives they were working on to improve the consultancy lifestyle. And I really think the firms were being genuine...
... every one of them recognised that consulting is consulting and that the client is king. So consulting is always going to be tough and there was no attempt to hide this. But there was also an acknowledgement that graduates leaving University are now much more concerned about having a good quality of life than they were 10 years' ago. And that encouraging women back into consulting after a career break is a key strategy for addressing the current skills shortage.
Encouraging working from home, installing broadband, stressing to clients that consultants might only be on site 3 days a week... these were just some of the many initiatives the firms are putting into place to make the consulting lifestyle more palatable.
I think most agreed they hadn't done everything they could do and that they're constantly on the look-out for new initiatives to improve things further.
Any readers got any examples of great policies that are in place at your firm? Things that really make a difference and make the harder sides of the career more bearable? Please do post your contribution using the link below... Tony
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