Environmental Science & Engineering - www.esemag.com - November 2004
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Is the consulting industry slipping?
By Rui De Carvalho,
M.Eng., P.Eng., President,
R.J. Burnside & Associates
In a November 2003 article in the
Consultants’ Forum series, entitled
“The ethics of body snatching”, Bill
DeAngelis, P. Eng. (now with
Associated Engineering), discussed the
issue and concerns that relate to the luring
of staff from one firm to another. He
discussed the factors and measures that
employers need to adopt if they are to
retain valuable staff. In reality these
measures come down to making the
appropriate investment in our most
valuable resource, our staff.
The consulting industry’s track
record, just like governments, is not
impressive. Over the last ten to twenty
years, many bright young professionals
with degrees in engineering or applied
sciences have had stints in consulting,
then decided to look to greener pastures,
in commerce, finance, marketing,
etc. Most of us that have been around
for more than a few years are actually
aware that, at times, the economic environment
was not particularly favourable
and resources somewhat scarce. Most
of us are aware of some very promising
individuals who left our industry.
It is well known that financial reward
is not necessarily the one and only
attraction with some excellent firms that
were able to maintain their bright young
professional staff and major contributors
even through slow times. These
firms likely provide a number of intangibles
that don’t show up on a pay
cheque. These include positive corporate
cultures and work place environments,
opportunities for career growth
and development, positive feedback and
recognition, mentoring by senior professionals
and opportunities for equity.
Many of today’s young professionals are
also looking for a balance between their
career and their personal life.
In case some of our industry leaders
haven’t noticed, the boot camp atmosphere,
even with high levels of financial
remuneration, no longer makes the
cut and is not sustainable over the
longer term. It is much more costeffective
to invest in retaining employees,
rather than in recruitment.
Employers who take time to get to
know what is uniquely important to
highly talented employees are well on
their way to becoming the employers
of choice in the consulting industry.
There is no question that in order
for us to provide the rewarding and
balanced career opportunities, there is
a need for not only progressive management
but also for appropriate
financial resources. In an industry
where profit margins are at times just a
bit better than those of the airlines -
and worse than those of grocery stores
- historically we have not really had a
great deal of financial flexibility.
It’s interesting, however, that we do
observe the supply price of a barrel of
crude oil climbing because of an apparent
shortage in supply, having a direct
impact on the cost to fuel a vehicle. At
the same time, in our industry, many
firms are also finding a significant
shortage of experienced engineers and
scientists to join their project teams.
We still observe many instances
where the consulting industry continues
to significantly undervalue its services.
The result continues to be the cycle of
scarce resources for the same industry
to provide the appropriate conditions to
attract, retain, and develop the best
graduates in a number of disciplines,
and with significant consequences.
Just as our governments have failed
to provide the resources so that we no
longer lead in environmental innovation,
the consulting industry is also in
danger of slipping from a leadership
role, to a mediocre level where perhaps
the services that it provides to its clients
will, in fact, be of decreased value.
In an effort to better reward shareholders
and staff, we must have pride
in our work and respect for its value,
and provide the greatest value possible
to our clients based on our technical
competence and management capabilities.
In turn, we should not be afraid to
earn appropriate returns, which will
allow for appropriate investments.
Contact e-mail: rui@rjburnside.com.
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