Training and development of consultants

Consultants who specialize sectorally need to keep abreast of sectoral developments, including sector-specific technologies, principal products, leading producers and distributors, competition, restructuring of firms, economic trends and prospects, employment and social issues, environmental considerations and the like.

Consultant development matrix

The consultant development matrix in figure 37.1 gives a rough idea of how training needs change in the course of a typical consulting career. To simplify, three stages in the career are shown (initial, advanced, managerial). Between these stages, there is a shift in emphasis from basic, operational and methodology issues, which dominate initial training, through assignment (project) marketing and management (which includes leading teams of consultants), to practice management and development. As indicated in the matrix, owing to the rapidly changing state of the art in consulting, every area requires updating at all levels of the hierarchy.

Impact of the firm’s strategic choices

In Chapter 28 we stressed the need for consistency between the consulting firm’s basic strategic choices, and the training and development of its professional staff. Although some common basic training has to be given to all consultants, firms do not normally develop their staff to make them more competent in general terms, but to fit the firm’s particular profile and to understand and implement its strategy. Strategies can be very different, and so will be training policies and programmes. For example, firms engaged mainly in the development and installation of management systems will provide a great deal of formal and structured staff training in the design and application of these systems. Firms practising action learning and process consulting as their principal intervention technologies will put more emphasis on behavioural, communication and human resource development approaches and techniques.

37.2 Training of new consultants

Objectives of training

The overall objective of an initial training programme for new consultants is:

To ensure that the consultant has the ability and confidence to carry out assignments in his or her field of management.

As consulting is not easy, initial training must explain and demonstrate this, but at the same time provide enough guidance for new entrants to start their first assignment confident of their ability and enthusiastic.

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Figure 37.1 Consultant development matrix

The overall objective quoted above can be broken down into four subobjectives, as follows:

1. To ensure that the consultant can investigate an exiting situation and design improvements.

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This requires the ability to gather information and analyse it critically, to identify all aspects of the problem, and then to design practical improvements using imagination and creativity.

2. To ensure that the consultant can develop a collaborative relationship with the client, gain acceptance of the proposed changes, and implement change satisfactorily.

The ability to make contacts with people easily, an understanding of factors stimulating or inhibiting change, a sound knowledge of the techniques of communication and persuasion, and good interaction with people during implementation, are vital parts of a consultant’s armoury. They should be stressed and practised during initial training.

3. To ensure proficiency in the consultant’s field or discipline.

This includes knowledge of the technical aspects of the field, some of which consultants may not have encountered in their previous career, and the ability to apply them to a client’s problems. At the same time, consultants must be able to see the problems of their particular functional field in the broader context of an overall management strategy, and relate them to other functional areas and to the environment in which an enterprise operates.

4. To satisfy the management of the consulting firm that the consultant is capable of working independently and under pressure to the required standard.

It would be unrealistic to require new consultants to be able to tackle any difficult assignment immediately after training. Nevertheless, by the end of the initial training period they must have demonstrated their ability to handle a field assignment. At the same time, a systematic evaluation of the trainees’ performance should give the firm enough information about the strengths and weaknesses of new colleagues for the team leader to be able to help them with proper guidance and coaching during the first assignments.

Patterns of initial training

The design of an initial training programme depends on many variables, including the specific needs of individual trainees and the resources and policies of the consulting firm. The practices of consulting firms vary. There is a broad range of initial training programmes, from precisely planned and structured programmes to totally informal training of undetermined duration. It is not the purpose of this chapter to prescribe one particular pattern for all conditions. There are, however, certain principles that should be reflected in any programme for new consultants, and also certain patterns that have given good results in various situations.

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Individualization. New entrants have different backgrounds in terms of knowledge and experience, and different personal characteristics. There should not be a uniform initial training programme, although some elements of initial training will be given to every new consultant. We show below how the training programme can be individualized without becoming too difficult and expensive for the consulting firm to organize.

Practicality. Some aspects and methods of consulting can be explained and simulated during a course, but most of the training has to take the form of practice in carrying out the various steps of a consulting assignment and in interacting with clients, under the guidance of a senior consultant. The programme must include both observation of experienced consultants in action and direct execution of practical consulting tasks.

Stretching the trainees. The programme should demonstrate that consulting is demanding in time, effort and brainpower, so that trainees are under no illusion about the responsibilities and performance standards they have accepted in their newly chosen profession.

Length of programme. Although it could be argued that new consultants will need several years of experience to become fully competent and able to operate with a minimum of guidance and supervision, it would be impractical, and psychologically unsound, to maintain them in the category of trainees for too long. Assuming normal conditions of recruitment, the period of initial training should not exceed 6 to 12 months.

Coaching. The new consultants’ learning will be strongly influenced by the nature of the work assigned to them and by the behaviour of their supervisors and other senior colleagues. Therefore professional firms in consulting and other fields make their team and practice leaders, partners and other seniors personally responsible for the development of younger and less experienced associates. Most of this development is done informally and in a one-to-one relationship, by discussing technical, behavioural and other relevant issues, helping the young professionals to cope with difficulties, and suggesting improvements in a friendly manner that does not imply any negative assessment.8

Basic components of the training programme

An ideal programme of initial training will have three basic components:

–training courses for new consultants;

–practical field training at client organizations;

–individual study.

A training course for new consultants will cover those aspects of consulting that have to be given to all trainees, and can be dealt with in a classroom situation, using a variety of training methods, as discussed in section 37.3. As a rule, this will be a full-time residential course and its total duration may be between 2 and 12 weeks. Large consulting firms can afford longer courses, and hold them at their own headquarters or training centres. Small firms may have

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to send their new members to an external course for management consultants, complementing it with short workshops dealing with their specific policies, work concepts and issues.

Field (on-the-job) training is intended to develop a range of practical skills, demonstrate consulting in action, and mould the trainees’ attitudes towards their new profession on the basis of personal first-hand experience. It should provide opportunities and time for improving characteristics such as judgement, analytical and problem-solving ability, interpersonal relations, and ability to communicate and persuade. The training programme will also aim at improving other qualities such as self-confidence, integrity and independence. In planning this part of the training the consulting firm enjoys great flexibility, provided that it has enough clients willing to receive newly recruited consultants, and experienced consultants who have the time, ability and motivation to train and coach new colleagues.

Whether the time spent by the trainee at a client organization should be charged to the client is a delicate matter, which should be discussed frankly with clients, without imposing arrangements that they are reluctant to accept. In examining the curricula vitae of consultants proposed for an assignment, the client will easily identify new recruits with little or no consulting experience and will wish to be informed not only about these new consultants’ capabilities and usefulness, but also about financial arrangements. While it is justifiable to ask clients to pay some fee if a trainee’s work produces tangible results, it is neither reasonable nor fair to expect individual clients to bear directly the cost of training new consultants. This should be a general overhead in the consulting firm’s costs. A compromise solution may be found by charging a reduced fee, or a fee for a part of the trainee’s time. The same applies to the trainer’s time – if the trainer is an operating consultant, time spent on guiding and coaching trainees should be foreseen, and not charged to the client.

Assignments for which the client will be charged a flat fee may provide a more favourable training ground than if the fees are time-based. The client who knows that the fee will remain the same irrespective of the number of consultants used and time spent will feel more comfortable about the use of inexperienced consultants in the project team.

Individual study is another component that provides for flexibility of training. A new consultant can fill some knowledge gaps by reading books and articles, final assignment reports, operating manuals and other documentation.

In an ideal situation these three components of the initial training may be combined and scheduled as follows:

●first (introductory) part of the course for new consultants (say between two and six weeks);

●field training (length as necessary and feasible);

●second part of formal training (say one to six weeks), including one or more specialized seminars or workshops on operating methods, and familiarization with technical services, people and documentation at the consulting firm’s headquarters;

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●field training continues as appropriate;

●no specific period is reserved for individual study – this will be done in parallel with the course and with field training (the consultant may have to be prepared for many hours of overtime).

A consulting firm may, however, find it impossible to follow this schedule for various practical reasons: the number of trainees may not warrant an inhouse course, or the firm may only be able to afford a short introductory workshop for new entrants. The training task may thus become more difficult for everybody concerned and the new entrants will have to pick up much more through individual study and by observing colleagues at work.

The trainer’s role

During recruitment and selection, new consultants meet senior people in the organization only for a short time. Thus the trainer is the first member of the organization whom new consultants get to know well. He or she sets an example of how a consultant behaves, and demonstrates how to achieve results largely without the authority to impose ideas. The trainer therefore plays an important part in developing the characteristics that differentiate consultants from managers, executives, accountants, auditors or researchers. Apart from instilling knowledge, the trainer sets the tone for new consultants in their work with clients, and helps them to identify with the consulting firm’s philosophy and culture.

The head-office trainer is usually a senior person with wide experience of consulting and training. He or she has overall responsibility for the training of new consultants, including the programming of field training. He or she is in charge of the central training course for new consultants and will personally give a number of sessions in the course.

In a training course for consultant induction, each trainee should be viewed as an individual who will spend much of his or her time as the sole operating consultant on an assignment. Behaviour within the group and ability to join in the common cause should also be noted, as well as reactions to the problems and ideas discussed during the course. The trainer should not take a teacher-and- pupil attitude and the atmosphere in the course room should not be that of a schoolroom. This point may seem obvious, but trainers also have to learn to do their job and some may start in a rather pedantic way. A trainee should consider the trainer a good friend and counsellor on whom he or she can rely at any time for guidance and help.

Field trainers are operating consultants or team leaders working with clients. They are already practising in the field in which the new consultant will operate, and arrange for him or her to gradually take over a part of the assignment. They too must have training and coaching capabilities, be sympathetic to the needs of the new consultant, and be able to impart enthusiasm for working with a client. The field trainer develops a very special relationship with the new consultant. As the two of them will be spending some

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evenings together, a bond of friendship is usually forged, which may persist for many years after training is completed.

Evaluation of training

The progress of new consultants in training should be watched carefully by those in contact with them and a series of reports issued. The purpose is to ascertain whether the training is achieving its objectives, propose corrective measures (extension of the training programme, inclusion of new subjects for individual study, and the like), and gather information on the strengths and weaknesses of the trainees (this is invaluable to those who will supervise their first assignments). Needless to say, evaluation also helps to improve the training policies and practices of the consulting firm.

Many consulting firms use a system of confidential reports in which the trainers (both at head office and in the field) give their personal appraisal of the trainee. At least two reports are required: one at the end of the induction training course and one at the end of field training. Additional reports may be required if the initial training is broken down into several assignments involving different team leaders, or if the length of field training warrants interim progress reports.

The standard against which the new consultant is measured is the standard expected by the firm of operating consultants on their first assignment. The question to be answered is: “On present showing, will he or she be ready to operate at the end of the training?” Consistency of interpretation of the standard by the central trainer, field trainers and supervisors derives from their common experience and their knowledge of current operating requirements.

The trainers should review with the trainees how they are progressing, informally during work and training sessions, and in formal discussions held when an evaluation report is prepared. New consultants must be told about their strengths, weaknesses, and any other relevant aspects of their work. In addition to these discussions, senior members of the consulting organization should meet with new consultants during training. Apart from giving all the participants an opportunity to talk about the work and progress, these meetings ensure that new consultants become fully integrated members of the firm. They show that management is interested in the new consultants, aware of their progress, and making plans for their assignment after completion of training.

The importance of open criticism and frankness need hardly be stressed. Both the future effectiveness of the consulting organization, and the long-term career prospects of new consultants, depend on the excellent professional work of each individual. Any doubts about a new consultant’s ability should not be hidden, but discussed with him or her and with the supervisors. If the doubts cannot be resolved by the end of the training programme, a decision is required on whether the new consultant stays or terminates employment. On balance, termination of employment at this early moment may be the better choice, both for the new consultant and for the organization. An early termination will be an exception if the initial selection of candidates is carried out in a competent manner.

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