Management consulting is a service provided by consulting firms to help their clients improve the effectiveness of an organisation's strategy, operational processes and structure.Consultants give advice and solve complex issues. They identify areas where the company could add value, improve business performance and help develop skills within the organisation.They might be commissioned to devise a strategic plan to achieve a specific goal for the company – like boosting growth or actioning a specific project. Or they might advise on cost-saving initiatives or new approaches.On a typical contract, several solutions will be proposed in a large report, which will include forecasts of KPIs for each potential scenario.

What Does a Management Consultant Do?

A management consultant will make recommendations to help make a company’s operations more streamlined and, in the long run, help the company to boost its productivity and profitability.Organisations enlist the help of a management consultant for a wide variety of reasons. In all cases, they want an unbiased business expert to look at the workings of the company as an outsider, with no prior knowledge of why things are done a certain way.They may also need the expertise of a consultant to help with a specific project, typically because they don’t have an employee in-house who is experienced, knowledgeable or capable enough to take it on.

Management consultants usually look at any or all of the following aspects of a business:

• Human resources
• Marketing
• Business strategy
• IT and comms
• Supply chain
• Finance

• Charities
• Manufacturing
• Utilities
• Educational Services
• Retail
• Healthcare
• Hospitality
• Media
• Public Sector
• Government
• Financial Services

The main responsibilities of a management consultant are, firstly, to gain an overview of the organisation, then to analyse the organisation and identify areas where improvements could be made.

Finally, (depending on the contract) they will implement new procedures and processes.

As a management consultant, our job role would involve:

• Fully understanding the workings of the company – this includes looking at company processes and researching competitors, supply chains and other key influences on the organisation’s operations
• Collecting feedback from staff, senior management and any other stakeholders
• Running focus groups
• Collecting data from different areas of the company and analysing it
• Identifying issues and making suggestions for how to resolve them
• Creating proposals for what you plan to do (based on your findings) and presenting them to the client’s management team
• Implementing your solutions and supporting the organisation in carrying forward your recommendations
• Managing projects and teams

Specialisms In Management Consulting