Driving excellence through data-driven people decisions

Introduction

The consulting landscape is highly competitive. To stay ahead of the curve, ambitious consulting firms must consistently deliver value to clients whilst maintaining a steady pipeline of incoming work. At the same time, they must ensure that their most valuable asset – people – are engaged, high-performing, and happy.

Problem statement

Studies (including this, published by Gallup) have shown that businesses with low employee engagement are less productive and less profitable. By contrast, those with a more engaged workforce benefit from lower attrition, higher customer loyalty and increased sales. However, today’s employees need more than just an attractive salary to stay engaged at work and perform at their best. Research from McKinsey shows that other factors are just as important, such as respect and inclusion, growth opportunities, and quality of relationships with leaders. Factors that are difficult to measure and unlock without further exploring values, motivations, and behaviour. 

If that doesn’t get your attention, then consider…

Without incorporating behavioural science and data-driven insights into their people management practices, consulting firms risk missing out on opportunities to maximise the value of their people, and in turn, risk losing valuable talent and not elevating their business to the next level.

Behavioural science in the workplace

Behavioural science, from an organisational/business psychology perspective, is the study of human behaviour within workplace settings. It encompasses various disciplines, including psychology, sociology, and anthropology to understand how individuals and groups interact, make decisions, and influence organisational outcomes.

By applying the principles of behavioural science, consulting firms can analyse and predict employee behaviour, identify factors that motivate or reduce performance, and develop strategies to enhance overall workplace productivity and satisfaction. 

In practical terms, this means gathering data about your employees or potential employees that will unlock insights that lead to better decisions at every stage of your employee journey.

Leveraging data-driven insights, supported by behavioural science helps growing consulting firms optimise their human capital, leading to better performance, innovation, and a competitive advantage. 

Why does it matter for your consultancy?

Humans are complex. Consulting firms that rely heavily on people to deliver, sell, and grow the business need to better understand, measure, and manage that complexity to get the most out of their people, and in turn, their business.

At New Minds, what we know of high-performing consultants is that they are curious, ambitious, driven, and have a willingness to learn and grow. These are some of the key traits that lead to success, but they are also traits that need to be supported and nurtured. We encourage our clients to deploy sophisticated psychometric assessments to accurately assess these traits and then leverage the data and insights for tailored future development, which you can read more about here. Employers who want to retain their high performers will need to provide opportunities to learn and grow.

In fact, consultants are not alone in their desire for development. A recent study from Randstad, which surveyed over 26,000 workers globally (of which over 1,700 were in the UK), found that a lack of career progression is one of the main reasons for employee dissatisfaction, with 46% stating they would quit a role that didn’t offer opportunities for career progression. Add to that, the ~50% who would likely reject a job offer if there weren’t clear opportunities for learning and development, and suddenly we have the potential for an attraction and retention issue. 

As a foundation, consulting firms should have career pathways established for all roles (which may not be linear), with clear expectations around the value these add to the business and what capability, competency, and progression looks like for the individual. This will help to show employees the path to becoming a well-rounded consultant. One who is adding maximum value back into the business. 

However, while having this level of structure is essential for success, the reality of enabling and driving career development and progression is much more difficult. There is a risk that performance and development processes can feel like a tick box exercise.

According to Rich Cober, PhD, an Organisational Psychologist and Managing VP of Gartner, “the holy grail of performance management is for leaders to have really good conversations with their people about how they’re doing”, which highlights the importance of properly understanding, connecting with, and tracking employees. The ability for senior leaders (and wider people managers) to have effective and meaningful feedback conversations can be the difference between keeping superstar performers and losing them to the competition. In an industry where people often feel like ‘just a number’, accurately understanding the natural preferences, communication styles, motivations, and well-being (engagement) of individuals will enable firms to feel ‘more human’, and drive greater engagement levels, leading to higher performance.

Where have we seen it have a positive impact?

While larger consultancies have historically been the ones to push the boundaries of behavioural science in their people strategies, there is a growing trend for ambitious boutique and mid-sized firms to do the same. Here are two recent examples:

1. Behavioural Science in action: a leading consultancy in the healthcare and life sciences sector, employing approximately 130 people, applied behavioural science to their graduate hiring process to reduce unconscious bias and better understand high potential. They incorporated a data-driven approach to assessing candidates by implementing sophisticated psychometric assessments, leading to a more diverse and inclusive intake of candidates, while maintaining high-performance. 

2.Behavioural Science in action: a mid-sized business transformation consultancy with approximately 250 people, leverages behavioural science in their people analytics by conducting detailed employee surveys and analysing data on employee performance. They have designed a robust performance management structure that drives development while still fostering a positive, employee-centric work environment, to improve employee engagement and retention.

How can your consultancy benefit from behavioural science? 

To stay ahead of the curve, consulting firms must embrace these advanced methodologies and incorporate them into their people management practices. If you’re a leader in an ambitious, fast growing consulting firm and are yet to incorporate behavioural science into your people strategy, here are five areas that you should strongly consider taking action on:

1. Develop and deploy a regular employee engagement survey as a way of measuring the factors that impact performance and well-being and prioritising the areas for improvement. This will also demonstrate to your people that you are willing to tackle the challenges that matter most to them.
2. Establish what the future state of success looks like in your business, and what behaviours you need to see leadership role modelling as you continue to scale. This includes defining the expectations for what meaningful feedback looks like to support employee development.
3. Evaluate your consultant career pathways and current performance management process, ensuring that you are setting clear expectations about the capabilities and behaviours required to succeed in role and be promoted to the next.
4. Review your current recruitment processes and consider implementing psychometric assessments to better understand what high-performance looks like and increase your confidence in hiring the right people for the right roles.
5. Critically, make sure you are exploring and aligning the purpose and values of your business to that of your people – purpose defines why your consultancy (and people) does what it does, and values determine how your people act in pursuit of that purpose. Aligning personal and business values is imperative for sustained success, particularly as you explore long-term succession plans. Do your employees have a shared sense of purpose with your organisation?

Conclusion

The integration of behavioural science into consulting people strategies is not just a trend but a necessity for firms aiming to thrive and grow. By understanding and leveraging the complexities of human behaviour, firms can create a more engaged, high-performing, and happy workforce. This approach not only addresses the immediate needs of employees but also aligns with long-term business goals, fostering a culture of continuous growth and development.

Ultimately, embracing behavioural science in your people strategy is about more than just keeping up with industry standards; it’s about setting your consultancy apart as a leader in innovation and employee satisfaction. By doing so, you can unlock the full potential of your human capital, driving your business to new heights of success.