Berger Strategy Consultants
7.8 Additional Programs
MBA/Ph.D.
ProSports programs
FORWARD International
(Women's Staff Exchange
Advancement)
Challenge
Sabbaticals Club
Fig. 7.6.Additional Skill and Motivation Enhancement Measures
7.8.1 MBA and Ph.D. Programs
In addition to our continuing development programs, we offer our consultants two special programs that allow them to work toward an MBA or a Ph.D. while work- ing as a consultant. Candidates must have been with us for at least two years and must obtain their mentor's approval.
Employees selected for these programs are released from work – for one or two years for the MBA program, depending on which business school they select, and one year for the Ph.D. program (with an option to extend for 6 months). Partici- pants either receive a postgraduate scholarship, or are reimbursed for their course fees and living expenses. These disbursements are made in the form of a loan that is deemed repaid in full when the employee completes two years of consulting work following the program.
We assist our program participants wherever possible by offering permanent contact through our Academic Network program. This organization combines our ongoing partnerships with a number of international chairs at universities and business schools. We share practical and academic know-how with college repre- sentatives (Academic Circle), conduct joint studies and publish books and Ph.D.
dissertations on management theory and corporate management. Our Ph.D. candi- dates can use this channel as an opening into university research projects.
7.8.2 Working Abroad
For employees who wish to gain longer-term experience working abroad above and beyond the occasional project assignment, our International Staff Exchange Program (ISEP) offers them the opportunity to relocate to one of our international offices for a period of around two years. The initiative for such a move has to come from the individual consultant: they must apply to an office abroad and suc- cessfully complete its local selection process.
As a central support function, the ISEP team within our HR Department sup- ports the entire transfer process, assisting with contracts and visas or organizing language courses, for example.
Over the past few years, an average of 80 employees have participated in the transfer program each year. Management regards it as explicitly desirable that would-be managers gain extensive international experience through the projects they are involved in or through spending time abroad.
7.8.3 Other Activities
The broad spectrum of personal development activities we offer is rounded out by the option to take a sabbatical for personal reasons. The requirement for this is the mentor's approval. If approved, staff can take up to six months off to spend time with their family, learn, travel, etc.
Senior Consultants and Project Managers who have been with our company for at least two years can also switch to working part-time, reducing their working hours by up to half. They can opt either to work 2.5 days (or more) each week, or reduce their annual working hours by up to 50%, to take time out after a project, for example. This option is also an explicit component of our women's develop- ment program FORWARD, which I mentioned earlier, and is also available for anyone who wants to devote some time to raising their children.
Last but not least, if a company aims to attract, promote and retain employees, it needs to nurture an environment in which a positive corporate culture can grow.
Primarily, this means staff developing ties to the company and their colleagues above and beyond their contractual or working relationships. One explicit aspect of our human resources work includes a number of activities that promote such ties. For example, we offer our colleagues the chance to participate in sporting events at attractive locations (ProSports), or invite them to attend exciting team events, often including their partners.
7.8.4 Development Is for Support Staff, too
So far, I have concentrated mainly on our consultants, but we also offer attractive continuing development programs for our support staff. For instance, all profes- sional support staff (that is, our in-house Editing, Language Service, Research and Knowledge Management staff) enjoy essentially the same benefits as consultants, i.e. performance-based bonuses, access to all seminars, sabbaticals, and participa- tion in the MBA and Ph.D. programs and ISEP.
As with our consultants, we have built up a career model for our support de- partments, and employees whose personnel committee gives them an above- average evaluation can take on more responsibility over time. Here, too, increas- ing seniority comes with an increasing share of variable salary components.
7.9 And When Staff Leave ...
Compared with other businesses, consulting companies have a relatively high turnover rate. People often have their own agenda, such as prospects of taking on
management responsibilities in industry. A consultancy's attitude to people leav- ing is therefore very different from the norm elsewhere.
And so it is with us, too. If someone lets us know that they see their future out- side of the consulting business, or if our evaluation procedures indicate that they are not meeting our performance standards, we offer to help them look for a suit- able position. We do this because, as a consulting company, we have a first-class network of contacts with our clients' management, and we usually have a very good idea of what attributes and abilities employees need to succeed with them.
Not only that, but having worked with and trained our staff intensively for several years, we are in a very good position to assess them, which puts us in an ideal po- sition to "match" job offers. The benefits here are obvious, to both staff and cli- ents: clients know that the consultants they have come to know and appreciate from project work are "high flyers", and our employees can take up the position that is best suited to their personal and professional abilities.
We see this support as investing in our own future. After all, it is highly likely that employees who leave us will, in the foreseeable future, be in a position to de- cide on consulting contracts. And what would then be more obvious than to call their old employer and ask them to submit a proposal? In other words, each former employee is also a potential future client!
With this in mind, we also cultivate our Alumni Network as a platform for former employees to exchange news and views among themselves and to keep in touch with current employees. Former consultants not only retain their emotional ties to their old company, but also continue to benefit from the information and know-how we generate. The network has its own password-protected website, en- suring that our alumni are always up to date on our company's current products.