“The ability to articulate your story or that of your company is crucial to almost every phase of enterprise management. It works all along the business food chain. A great salesperson knows how to tell a story in which the product is the hero. A successful line manager can rally the team to extraordinary efforts through a story that shows how short-term sacrifice leads to long-term success. An effective CEO uses an emotional narrative about the company’s mission to attract investors and partners, to set lofty goals, and to inspire employees. Sometimes a well-crafted story can even transform a seemingly hopeless situation into an unexpected triumph.” Peter Guber - Author, Director and Chairman & CEO of Mandalay Entertainment [from HR Magazine - September 2008]
It is a more competitive market than ever before for consulting firms who are seeking top talent, it is rare nowadays to find a candidate who is only in process with one company. Most candidates are getting regular contact from both head-hunters and directly from firms, presenting them with opportunities at a range of different levels and locations. As a result, each company’s individual story and unique selling points are key to securing the best people on the market and in some cases, snatching them away for their competitors.
A good candidate will always do some research into a firm before going ahead with an application, meaning that a company’s website and pages like Glassdoor are important to keep up to date. However, it is the specific journey of a company from inception to where they are today, as well as their future growth plans that will really get a candidate interested. This is important both to attain initial interest but also at the end of a process when the candidate is deciding whether to commit their long-term future to a firm.
Every company is different and has a unique story to tell, however ensuring that your particular one is both interesting and stands out from the crowd is key to securing potential hires.
Unique selling points that candidates often respond well to:
• Team Based Culture – Management consulting can be a difficult place to build internal relationships sometimes due to the project-based nature, so a firm that offers company events, team building sessions and company trips are going to be appealing to candidates who want a more collaborative culture
• Reduced Travel – This is something that not every firm can offer, but the opportunity for candidates to work on projects within a commutable distance from home or work from home when not on client site is something that a firm should sell on during the interview process
• Career Progression – The larger consultancy firms often have a very rigid promotion structure of a certain number of years at each level before progressing, if your company can offer a more fluid progression track where top achievers can gain promotion more quickly, it should resonate well with potential hires
• Approachable Leadership – Having a leader who you can connect with is so important to new hires, as a result ensuring that candidates are meeting the best person in the business to strike up a positive rapport is essential; gone are the days of hard interviewers who grill candidates with no connection on a personal level
• Diversity & Balance – A lot of candidates are looking for a company that is well balance both in terms of cultural and gender diversity; as discussed in one of my previous articles, this is hard to achieve quickly however if it is something that a company has built themselves around, it is a massive positive for many potential employees
• Innovative Approach – Candidates buy into both a company’s culture and its approach to projects, a firm that offers something different in the latter will gain more interest than one who is purely traditional in their style
• Cutting Edge Projects – Working in a space which is ahead of the curve leads to a feeling of pushing the boundaries, a lot of candidates want this and the opportunity to be a trailblazer through their work, if a firm is able to offer this then they will definitely pique the interest of plenty of top candidates
• Growth Plans – Every company that is hiring is essentially looking to ‘grow’ but if a firm is interviewing due to an increase in workload or long-term growth plans (rather than replacing a leaver), a candidate will see them as being more stable an environment and potentially a more ambitious firm to work for
Obviously the above points don’t apply to every firm however if a company has these positive points and doesn’t get them across to the candidate when given the chance, they are missing out on potential extra buy-in. Always remember that an interview process is two way and when candidates are speaking to several firms at once, every little nugget of information about a company can make all the difference.
Define your story, make sure you stand out from the crowd, ensure that anyone speaking to the market on your behalf understands your offering and have every candidate you speak to or interview know why you are a great firm to work for!
If you would like to discuss your company’s approach and ensure you are competing on the market, feel free to get in touch via the Consulting Point website or info@consultingpoint.com to arrange a conversation with one of our talent consultants.
Written by Matthew Liddle - Principal Talent Consultant at Consulting Point