A consulting firm sells the time and thinking of its people, and the business rises or falls on how well that time is used. Time is the product, so partners who sell without developing people end up rebuilding the team every couple of years.
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Share your requirementsA consulting firm sells expertise on projects of a few weeks to many months, usually at the client's office or by remote work. The team is stacked from analysts and associates through consultants and managers to partners or directors, and each project draws a fresh mix. When a project ends, people either move to another one or sit on the bench, and the partner's time goes to selling the next piece of work. Travel, client deadlines and long days are normal. Clients buy the firm, but they rely on the individual in the room, so losing a good consultant mid-project is costly. See also HR for professional services.
Who does the work
Bench time and overload coexist
Some people have no project while others work every weekend, and staffing decisions are made by whoever shouts loudest.
The next step is unclear
Analysts and associates do not know what it takes to become a consultant or manager, and promotion seems to follow mood.
Partners sell but do not develop
Senior people are busy winning work, so coaching and honest feedback for juniors are rare.
Projects reinvent the wheel
Each team builds its own models and templates, and what was learnt on one project rarely helps the next.
Travel and hours wear people out
Weeks away from home and constant client demands lead to quiet exits, often to client companies.
Utilisation is judged crudely
A single figure for billable time rewards the wrong behaviour and ignores contribution to proposals, hiring and learning.
Staff projects from a visible pipeline
A shared view of upcoming work and people's availability, so assignments are matched to skills and development, not decided by chance. The workforce planning work builds it.
Define each level in plain terms
What an associate, consultant and manager can be trusted with, and what evidence moves someone up. The competency and talent management work writes it down.
Set up project feedback
A short review at the end of each engagement from the manager and peers, collected into a half-yearly conversation. Performance management provides the process.
Capture reusable knowledge
A shared library for templates, models and lessons, with one person responsible for keeping it usable.
Agree travel and workload norms
Limits on consecutive weeks away, recovery time after heavy projects and an honest discussion before assignments are made.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
Clear definitions for each level so progression rests on evidence.
Project-based feedback and a regular review that recognises more than billable hours.
A forward view of demand and availability so bench and overload are both managed.
A look at who leaves, after which projects, and where they go.
Every engagement starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes. Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in professional services, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
Why associates and managers leave consulting, accounting, legal and advisory firms, and how to ask about progression, workload and partners at exit.
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A review can only judge what was agreed beforehand. How to set expectations that are specific, written and revisited, so the review stops being a surprise.
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A two-hour exercise that names the roles you could not fill quickly, who could cover them, and what readiness would actually require.
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Hiring decisions made one request at a time, in the month the pain is worst. What a workforce plan contains and why a twelve-month view changes what you hire.
7 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Share the pipeline openly, match availability to upcoming demand and use quiet periods for proposals, learning and knowledge building. Plan the move to the next project before the current one ends.
Track billable time, but add other contributions such as proposals, mentoring and reusable material. One figure alone pushes people in unhelpful directions.
Often for regular hours, a clear role and less travel. A visible career step and workload limits answer part of that.
Make it part of how partners are assessed, give them a simple format and set aside time. It will not happen on goodwill alone.
A simple one with four or five levels and plain definitions is enough. It makes promotion and pay discussions fairer.
We would go through how bench time and overload coexist, what associates believe it takes to be promoted, and who left after long-travel projects. A first piece of work could be a plain-language description of each level or a simple feedback step after every engagement. Once we have talked, we write down the scope and fees for you to agree.
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