| | By Mick James
Many things have
changed in consulting,
but it seems that the
mystique of partnership
is inextinguishable. A
lot of firms that have
changed their ownership
or governance structures
still retain the title,
and the trend is now for
other players in the
market to reintroduce
it.
Last year Unisys
changed “vice president”
to “partner” in its
consulting practice. The
move was partly to help
attract consulting
talent and also to
signal a renewed assault
on the consulting market
following the
acquisition of KPMG
Consulting in Belgium.
Now another of the KPMG
successor firms, Atos
Consulting, has
reintroduced partners.
Mark Spears, managing
partner in charge of
people and change is
clear that the move is
primarily aimed at
clients.
“After KPMG was
acquired by Atos Origin
the partners assumed the
title of managing
director, and it really
confused people in the
marketplace,” he says.
“I had to explain to
people that I was one of
35 or 40 managing
directors.”
Given that the next
rung down the ladder
consisted of
“directors”—now renamed
associate partners—you | |
| |
| | related to their role in
the business,” he says.
“In a traditional
partnership it’s a very
distinct role—the
partner has to generate
enough work to keep 25
to 30 people busy.”
By contrast Atos can
appoint individuals to
partnerships based on a
wider understanding of
the needs of the
business. While the bulk
of partners will always
be client-facing,
there’s no reason why
other partners might not
focus on business
development or
HR—traditionally career
suicide in a “real”
partnership.
“Our partners have to
be leaders in our
business as well as
technically sound
people,” says Spears.
“Professional management
is crucial to firms like
ours.”
It’s true that there
are a lot of partners in
consultancy who owe
their position more to
technical skill than
managerial nous—the
Peter Principle applies
just as much to
consulting as other
professions. Partnership
appointments are often
controversial, but as
Spears points out, “that
applies to any
organisation that’s not
got transparency about
promotion.”
“One of the things
that we’re very
conscious of is the need
to make it very clear | |
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| | what qualities you need
to move from associate
partner to partner
level,” he says “We have
a structured process to
make that step.”
Consulting currently
accounts for about 8 per
cent of Atos Origin’s
revenues, and the
company is currently
ramping up recruitment,
focusing primarily on
mature recruits.
“We like to take
people from industry
with five to ten years'
experience and make them
into effective
consultants,” says
Spears. “How can you
give advice to clients
if you haven’t been on
the other side of the
desk?”
The reintroduction of
the partner title will
play a vital role in
Atos Consulting’s growth
strategy which will
position the firm in
three ways: 1) to be
seen as the consulting
“front-end” of the
managed operations and
systems integration
business; 2) as a
stand-alone consultancy
and 3) as a business
able to leverage Atos
Origin's existing
portfolio.
“How do you get
people to see you as a
business consultant when
they see you as their
desktop manager?” Spears
says.
The approach is
already bearing fruit:
Atos built on its
desktop management | |
|
| | relationship with United
Biscuits to develop
business process
redesign work for its
consultants, which has
in turn led to systems
integration projects.
“We’re two years into
this now,” says Spears.
“And it’s a year since
the Sema project. We get
to talk about our
existing clients with
200 account managers and
account directors.
That’s prime pickings
and we hope to generate
a significant amount of
business there.”
Ultimately Spears
hopes that the term
partner will be seen as
a hallmark of quality
assurance.
“It’s all about the
quality of
relationships, the level
of integrity that you’re
able to generate. You
have to have that level
of trust,” he says.
“Anyone can call
themselves a partner,
but they get caught out
pretty damn quick when
you’re dealing with the
sort of clients we talk
to.”
All views expressed
in this article are
those of Mick James and
do not necessarily
reflect the views of
Top-Consultant.com and
Consulting-Times.com
Contact Mick with
your views or
suggestions at:
mick.james@top-consultant
.com | |
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