Competency and talent management for Management consulting: grades and skills that explain who staffs what
In consulting, a grade is a promise about what a person can do on an engagement. A competency grid makes that promise visible, so staffing and promotion decisions can be explained rather than argued over.
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Share your requirementsWhy competency and talent management matters in management consulting
Many consulting firms promote on a mix of billing, partner opinion and tenure. Consultants guess at what the next grade needs, and the promotion round brings disappointment. Staffing suffers too, since managers cannot see which consultant can run a client workshop or build a financial model without help.
A competency grid lists the skills for each grade in plain words, such as structuring a problem, building the model, leading a client meeting and coaching a junior. Each person is rated against it twice a year, by their manager and by themselves. The grid then supports promotion cases, development plans and the choice of who joins which engagement.
How to set it up
1. Define the grades and what each is for
List the grades from analyst to principal and write two lines on what the firm expects at each. Keep the number of grades small enough for people to remember.
2. List five to eight skills per grade
Group them into problem solving, analysis, client handling, leadership and business development. Give a short example of work that shows each skill at that grade.
3. Rate people twice a year
Each person and their manager rate against the grid separately, then talk. Note differences. Use the ratings for development plans and as one input to promotion, with the partner group reviewing them.
4. Use the grid for staffing
Before allocating, check the skills the engagement needs against the team. A gap becomes a plan, such as pairing a consultant with a senior for the first modelling task.
5. Run promotion cases against the grid
A manager writes a short case with examples against each skill. A panel reads it and gives a written answer, even when the answer is no. See performance management.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask three consultants to describe what separates their grade from the next and compare answers.
- Check whether the last promotion round gave written reasons to those who were not promoted.
- Review how many engagements were staffed after looking at skills, not only availability.
- Look at whether development plans mention specific skills.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach competency and talent management in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Detailed enough to guide decisions, short enough to read in ten minutes. Five to eight skills per grade, each with an example, is usually enough. A long document will not be used.
No. It shows the evidence, and the panel still decides. The gain is that people know what is expected and managers have to give reasons, which makes decisions easier to accept.
Review it once a year with partners and a few consultants. Change it when your services change, such as a new practice that needs different skills, but avoid yearly rewrites that confuse people.