In most parts of the world, organizations resort to external management consultants mainly to augment their capacity or to bridge their capability gaps. As such, companies look for specialized expertise, objectivity in analysis and decision-making, improved efficiency, access to innovation, and solutions to complex problems. Oftentimes, the role of a management consultant varies based on the market’s maturity, the client organization’s size, the industry, and more. In the wake of technology, management consultants need to be humans first both to succeed and stay relevant. Why is the human factor so powerful in management consulting?
A well of literature identifies key competencies that set one to succeed in management consulting. Commonly, these competencies are technical and behavioral. Yet, definitions and lists omit the human factor per se.
The human factor refers to the contribution of human beings to a situation and the influence of human behavior, decision-making, and actions on the outcomes of that situation. It comprises cognition, emotions, and cultural and social backgrounds that influence performance.
The human factor must sit at the heart of management consulting because organizations are made up of people. There needs to be a level of trust between the consultant and their client for the latter to agree on paying hefty budgets, sharing data and giving access to confidential information, and listening to a stranger tell them about their very own business.
Management consulting can be more than a transactional job involving short-term engagements focused on specific tasks or projects within a defined timeline and budget. Alongside technology, the human factor is the keystone to every transformation; it solely has the power to drive organizational change and lead strategic impact.
An illustrative survey was run on Gravitas’s community of 70 management consultants across 13 different countries, asking whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) will disrupt the industry of management consulting. 46% of the responses were affirmative that AI will disrupt management consulting, while others either gave a negative answer or are still perplexed about the future of management consulting with the hype around AI. These numbers put forward the value of the human factor for management consultants to remain needed and value-adding.
Many tasks can be technology-enabled for increased efficiency, productivity, and performance. It is, however, the human factor that increases the client organization’s buy-in, improves business development and recurrent business, nurtures credibility, and turns the management consultant into a trusted advisor.
Management consultants should perform at their best while helping the client in their thinking process. They build rapport with their client organization; they are curious about their culture, and they respect it, for it helps them learn from their differences. They empathize with their clients, and they are sensitive to their vulnerabilities.
As consultancies are rethinking the future of the profession in the wake of technology, there is one seminal way to remain relevant, relatable, and needed: being human.
