Human Resource Management in Consulting Firms

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2 Human Resource Management in Consulting Firms

3 Michel E. Domsch Elena Hristozova (Editors) Human Resource Management in Consulting Firms With 42 Figures 12

4 Professor Dr. Michel E. Domsch Dipl.-Oec. Elena Hristozova, M.E.S. I.P.A. Institute for Human Resource and International Management Helmut-Schmidt-University Holstenhofweg Hamburg Germany ISBN-10 ISBN Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Cataloging-in-Publication Data Library of Congress Control Number: This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer is a part of Springer Science+Business Media springeronline.com Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2006 Printed in Germany The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Hardcover-Design: Design & Production, Heidelberg SPIN / ± Printed on acid-free paper

5 Preface and Acknowledgements Consulting is a knowledge-intensive industry, in which human resources are considered to be the most important asset. This industry, which had been flourishing until recently, has attracted the interest of academia, private business, public authorities and even journalists. As a result, a broad range of issues related to this sector have been explored in detail. However, only a few contributions deal with personnel or human resource management. There are two possible explanations for this lack. Due to its uniqueness and strategic importance, information about human resources has been treated by consulting firms with a great deal of confidentiality (Mohe 2004). This has been confirmed by our own experience. On the other hand, human resource management in consulting firms has just recently gained a more explicit and formal shape (Graubner and Richter 2003), thus making it a subject of researchers and practitioners interest. Therefore the main intention of this book is to provide an insight into those areas as yet barely touched on by delivering a specific and fairly concrete idea about the role and different facets of human resource management in consulting firms. Although the present volume is addressed to a relatively broad audience, it is mainly aimed at the potential clients and applicants of consultancies and, of course, at scholars looking for empirical evidence with regard to the topic. Further, we can imagine that this book could be a useful source for professors teaching consulting firm management in a practice-oriented manner. For the purposes of the present book we invited both HR professionals and managers from leading consulting firms as well as scholars investigating HRM within the consultancy industry. In the following, we will introduce the volume chapters and the relevant authors. The Volume Chapters All contributions reflect empirical evidence regarding personnel practice in leading consulting firms. The company reports have a common structure in which the first part presents the corporate background including size, clients and philosophy and the second part eider delivers an in-depth overview of the different HR processes or focuses on one concrete HR practice that is described in detail. The first introductory chapter presents an integrative review of the role of human resource management in consulting firms. Starting from Ulrich s model regarding the roles of HR, Michel E. Domsch and Elena Hristozova, analyze the extant literature, focusing on particular personnel aspects arising from the specific

6 vi Michel E. Domsch and Elena Hristozova business. The framework for the analysis serves also as a framework for the volume. In the second introductory chapter Klaus Reiners focuses mainly on the importance of HRM in the consultancy industry. Starting with an overview of the recent developments on the consulting market in Germany, he derives the specific need for personnel management in this field of industry. In conclusion, he presents the whole range of basic and further training entities offered by the Federal Association of German Consultants. The next part analyzes the role of HRM as a strategic partner and change agent. Central to this part is the report of Kienbaum Management Consultants focusing on the value-oriented culture of the company. Walter Jochmann shows how the HR core instruments are aligned with the corporate vision. The author stresses, in particular, Kienbaum s strategic competency management, performance management, corporate culture, and change management. The chapters in the section HRM as administrative expert depict mainly the traditional role of HRM and reveal industry specific aspects regarding personnel functions such as recruitment, training and development, career development, knowledge management and so on. Most of these contributions are insider reports giving the reader a fairly concrete idea about HR systems and processes in leading consultancies. To begin with the reader is provided with an in-depth overview of the current personnel practices in international consultancies. Michael Dickmann, Michael Graubner and Ansgar Richter compare HR practices in international consultancies with those in multinational organizations from other industries. Further, starting from the Three-wave model of Kipping, the authors distinguish between personnel practices in consultancies from the second and those from the third waves. Human Resource Management as Administrative Expert contains two different kinds of contributions. While the cases of Booz Allen Hamilton, Metaplan, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and BDSU deliver a broad picture of their personnel systems, Accenture and Lee Hecht Harrison focus on cases dealing with single practices regarding leadership development and knowledge management. The case in Chapter 9 focuses also on a concrete HR practice with regard to employer branding. In Chapter 5 Rainer Bernnat and Angelika Sonnenschein use Booz Allen Hamilton s personnel background to present all the facets relevant to the corporate process of career planning. Further, the authors focus on HR-related corporate best practices such as mentoring programs, sponsorship programs and evaluation processes, all of which are aimed at the personal and professional development and career progression of the employees.

7 Preface and Acknowledgements vii Chapter 6 reflects the theoretical background of Metaplan s consulting philosophy and HRM. Wolfgang Schnelle presents fairly concrete examples of personnel tools used within the corporate practice of recruitment and training. For the case of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Burkhard Schwenker delivers a broad picture of the firm s specific HR systems and tools. Within the HR framework he focuses, in particular, on the basic principles on which HR work is built as well as on personnel processes and levers like selection, evaluation, compensation, and training and development. The author presents further initiatives aimed at additional skills and motivation enhancement. Chapter 8 deals with HRM in Junior Consultancies. Kathrin Günther, Frederike Harms, Mareike Schilling and Lorraine Schneider sketch briefly the phenomenon of Junior Enterprises in the European consulting arena. Based on different cases from their own practice regarding selection, employee commitment, training and alumni retention, the authors deliver a concrete and detailed idea of personnel work in Junior Enterprises. As already introduced the final three chapters deal with specific aspects of single HR practices in consultancies, such as employer branding, leadership development and knowledge management. Stephan Erlenkaemper, Tom Hinzdorf, Katrin Priemuth and Christian von Thaden focus on the method of preference matching, a successful form of employer branding in consulting firms. Using the method of choice modeling as a basis, the authors explain the process of preference matching. Further, they deliver findings regarding the use of special software for the purpose of successful preference matching in consultancies. In Chapter 10 Martina Beck and Ildiko Kreisz present Accenture s case regarding leadership development. The authors focus in particular on the corporate understanding of leadership, on the leadership competency matrix as a basis of the leadership development program, and on the basic elements of the program. The authors make explicit the integration of leadership development at Accenture into the other HR processes like performance management, recruitment and training. Knowledge management is a topic very central to the consulting industry. Jane Aubriet-Beausire and Sophie Gaio deal with the personnel aspects of knowledge management at Lee Hecht Harrison. More concretely they stress the relationship between organizational learning and quality assurance, and how an organization can become a learning one. In this context, the authors present the practices of employee orientation and certification, as well as training and professional development. The final two chapters reflect different aspects of the employee-champion role of HRM. Uta B. Lieberum investigates leading consultancies with regard to gender diversity management. She delivers empirical findings about the strategic importance of gender diversity and initiatives implemented in consultancies with regard to female promotion.

8 viii Michel E. Domsch and Elena Hristozova Maida Petersitzke and Elena Hristozova focus in their contribution on employability development. More concretely, the authors investigate both the organizational offers and the individual activity aspects of employability development. Their research is also aimed at defining employees needs and expectations towards improving employability. Finally, we would like to express our thanks to all authors for their efforts to respond to our expectations and suggestions. Our thanks go also to Springer Verlag for their patience and advice. We are also grateful to colleagues and students who have helped with the book. The present volume was financially supported by Helmut-Schmidt-University / University of the Federal Armed Forces. Michel E. Domsch and Elena Hristozova Hamburg, January 2006

9 Contents Introduction: The Importance of HRM in Consulting Firms 1. The Role of Human Resource Management in Consulting Firms 3 Michel E. Domsch and Elena Hristozova 2. The Consultant: A Clear Outsider s Inside View 25 Klaus Reiners Part I: HRM as Strategic Partner and Change Agent 3. Demands and Challenges: Values and Value-Oriented Corporate Culture 35 Walter Jochmann Part II: HRM as Administrative Expert 4. Human Resources Management in International Consulting Firms: Distinguishing Second and Third Wave Company Patterns 53 Michael Dickmann, Michael Graubner, and Ansgar Richter 5. Wanted: Experts on Strategy 85 Rainer Bernnat and Angelika Sonnenschein 6. Managing Human Resources at Metaplan 97 Wolfgang Schnelle 7. Human Resource Management at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants 107 Burkhard Schwenker 8. How Students Manage Human Resources 125 Kathrin Günther, Frederike Harms, Mareike Schilling, and Lorraine Schneider

10 x Contents 9. Employer Branding through Preference Matching 139 Stephan Erlenkaemper, Tom Hinzdorf, Katrin Priemuth, and Christian von Thaden 10. Leadership Development at Accenture 145 Martina Beck and Ildiko Kreisz 11. Knowledge Management: A way to Make a Difference in Our Field of Industry 157 Jane Aubriet-Beausire and Sophie Gaïo Part III: HRM as Employee Champion 12. Gender Diversity Management in Consulting Companies 175 Uta B. Lieberum 13. Managing Employability in the German Consultancy Industry 191 Maida Petersitzke and Elena Hristozova List of Figures 213 List of Tables 215 Notes on Contributors 217