Career Development Strategies for Retaining Consultants
Helping employees advance their career goals can raise retention rates, improve workforce planning, and grow your business.
Introduction
In the professional services field, human capital is the most important asset. Business
leaders know that keeping top talent is key. But retaining top talent is more complicated
than simply offering a rich compensation package. Professionals also want challenging
and rewarding work. “Not just in their current jobs, but especially in the jobs and roles
they aspire to two to three years or more down the road,” says David Foote, CEO and chief
research officer at Foote Partners LLC, a workforce management and IT compensation
research firm in Vero Beach, Florida. “Without a reasonable expectation that they can get
satisfaction in these areas at your company, key employees will find an organization that
can satisfy all or most of these immutable needs.”
Of course, matching the right people to the right projects can be challenging, especially
for mid-sized and large consulting practices under pressure to staff engagements with
tight time constraints. Still, they must match employees’ skills and career goals to available
projects, or risk losing business.
“Say good-bye to after-the-fact HR measurement and reactive workforce management,” says
HR consulting firm Hewitt Associates in its report “Next Generation Talent Management.
“The scarce, global, and empowered workforce of the next generation will require that
organizations embrace predictive workforce monitoring and strategic talent decisionmaking.
Together, these practices will form the foundation of next-generation talent
management and ensure that organizations will have enough workers with the right skills,
motivated to deliver desired results.”
Retaining top talent is a huge challenge in professional services organizations (PSOs). Career
development is key to helping you retain your people in the face of strong competition.
Download the entire white paper by filling out the form below. Fields marked with a * are required. 
