Earlier this year Marlowe founder Deborah Feakins visited the University of Kent to talk to students about a career in consultancy. We followed up with a poll to ask what you thought were the essential skills to be a consultant with communication, flexibility and adaptability coming out as the top skills.
We agree! But with a few additions… And as we’re celebrating our ten-year anniversary we’ve been reflecting on what we’ve learned about consulting over the last decade.
In this article we’re going to explore the organisational need for business change, explain why a trusted partnership between company and consultancy is essential for success and what makes a great consultant.
Let’s talk business change
The concept of the business change management profession is a relatively new one. Many of the original change management principles were codified in 1995 in John Kotter’s ‘Leading Change’. The UK’s chapter of the Change Management Institute (CMI) was only founded around fifteen years ago with Marlowe’s founder Deborah Feakins playing an instrumental part in creating it, leading it for three years and becoming the first CMI Accredited Master Change Professional in the UK.
But while the profession is relatively new there’s no doubt that it’s been growing and maturing with speed.
We have seen technology develop at pace; economies and geopolitical events mean companies have to be more cost conscious while also striving to be more efficient; younger generations are demanding new ways of working; and of course the pandemic changed the workplace forever. With all these (and more) changes and developments constantly around us – and no doubt more to come - it’s important that companies realise the benefits and return on investment of transformational change.
And to do that they will need specialist expertise that only professional change managers can provide.
While many organisations have experienced change professionals in-house there may be times when an external consultant is required. This could be because organisations operate at different levels of change maturity; they may be investing in technology that they’ve not used before; they could be looking at shifting their culture and require an ‘outsider’ to look in with fresh eyes; or quite often they just want to assess their capability and capacity for change.
Change professionals can offer a multitude of skills including leadership development, culture, capability building, change management delivery, communications and assurance. Whatever the organisational complexities a good consultant will help translate a company’s objectives into actions that deliver the right result and increase effectiveness. A great consultant will also partner with an organisation to develop those in-house skills and share best practice, so the client is set up for success for their future programmes and change is sustained.
A client and consultant partnership is essential for success.
Despite how well organisations plan, no journey – transformation-wise - is ever as straightforward as we think it will be. Our clients tell us that they need us to be flexible and adaptable to the challenges in their business and a huge part of that is having a consultant that really cares for the client’s goals and will be honest with them about how to get there…and what’s stopping them from doing that.
In addition, a powerful trait of a great consultant is when they say, ‘you’re not ready for me / us yet’ or ‘actually we’ve done what we can do, it’s time for us to upskill your very capable people and step away’.
Trust is essential when it comes to a client and consultant relationship. At Marlowe, upskilling is part of our philosophy, and our clients appreciate that. A great consultant should embed skills and leave a legacy; great consultants don’t want to ‘just do their job’ they want to get it right for the client, spend time listening to them and make sure they’re getting it right. And they’re not afraid to say, ‘just a minute. I think perhaps we should stop doing this, because that doesn't feel quite right’.
It's not always easy to approach a client to say it’s not working, but it is essential that a consultant can do it in a comfortable and constructive way. Quite simply it’s about being honest and putting egos to one side - that’s what clients need.
Consultants pick the right tool at the right time
There are plenty of change models in the business world – most of which are well known but a great consultant truly understands the different methodologies and will adapt and work across many of them to meet the needs of the organisation they’re working with. They know that a model doesn’t deliver change – creativity, experience and pragmatism are key.
Authenticity and communication is a differentiator – it’s a skill to navigate important, sometimes political, and often difficult conversations - something that could be quite difficult for an in-house change manager. A great consultant will listen, assess and judge when it’s time to push ahead with a tricky topic or say that it’s time to step back or pause.
Consultants don't need to be purist to achieve results, they just need to think and plan carefully for the programme in hand, bring commercial awareness and ensure that capability is being built. They will be conscious of the parameters in which clients are operating, their budget, time, regulatory and other constraints.
The Marlowe way – square pegs for square holes!
Marlowe ‘make a home’ for outstanding and genuine change management and communication professionals who want to make a difference. And while they are experts in their field we also support our team to grow their skills and be in an environment where they can thrive, live their profession and offer it to clients in a way that will make a difference.
And that means our clients get exceptionally high-quality change management and change communications professionals. Our consultants are friendly, warm and have a passion which shines through when helping companies and people through change.
About Marlowe
At Marlowe we partner with organisations to deliver large scale, complex transformation and change. We deliver business change solutions, change capability, assurance, training, leadership effectiveness and cultural change.
Our focus is on your people to ensure your change is delivered practically, successfully and sustainably. Please contact us if you would like to know more about delivering exceptional business change.