According to an HEC study, the turnover rate among consultants in IT consulting firms is twice as high as the average. This represents a challenge for IT consulting firms, which struggle to retain their consultants and build a true sense of belonging.
Retaining consultants raises crucial issues, especially around creating group dynamics and a genuine corporate culture, while also addressing the high cost of recruitment (on average 1.8 times the candidate’s monthly salary).
But how can a company create a corporate culture and deliver a unique professional experience in an organization fragmented across several clients ?
Digital tools : a prerequisite that is not enough to retain your IT consulting firm consultant
Retaining a consultant involves multiple levers. To effectively spread information and promote unifying values, intuitive communication channels must first be put in place.
Several entrepreneurs have already identified the need for simple information sharing through platforms designed to compensate for the lack of in-person exchanges. Slack, Teams, or WeShare are examples of corporate social networks that overcome time and location constraints, offering a virtual workspace and conversation hub.
These tools can partly replace the natural flow of information in an open space as well as the daily small talk, which is essential to a real office atmosphere. Features like GIFs and emojis add a touch of lightness, while video conferencing helps reduce the feeling of distance between different teams.
In short, digital tools form the foundation on which a corporate culture can live and grow. However, while necessary, they are not enough to ensure team cohesion. Building a true company culture requires human initiatives.
Bringing a human touch into every consultant’s work
Retention necessarily depends on the consultant’s sense of integration, which can be defined as frequent interaction with other group members, leading to a shared set of values and beliefs.
For an IT consulting firm, it is essential to maintain regular relationships with consultants to strengthen their sense of belonging. Organizing community events is one way to create genuine connections between colleagues. Drinks, escape rooms… spending enjoyable moments with peers and managers helps consultants develop a real feeling of integration.
Integration also grows when consultants feel they are in a healthy environment for feedback. Over time, consultants must feel that they are listened to and not just evaluated. This helps identify motivational drivers such as career progression opportunities, enabling consultants to project themselves into the long term.
Engagement can also be encouraged with complementary and participative compensation systems. For example, variable pay based on results or even opportunities to become shareholders after a certain period.
Because consultants often work directly at client sites, aspects of their work experience may depend entirely on the client. It is therefore critical to monitor consultants’ experiences at their assignments. Small details, like unequal access to company perks, can impact morale and, indirectly, loyalty to the consulting firm.
Over time, a sufficiently integrated consultant can even become an ambassador for the firm’s vision.
Uniting and inspiring consultants with a vision
The use of the word “retention” is no coincidence. Just as “faithful” has its roots in belief, consultant retention depends on shared values. British author Simon Sinek explains in his work that it is the vision and values carried by an employer brand that truly impact employees’ attachment to a company.
A clear and meaningful vision will resonate with the limbic brain, the part of our brain responsible for emotional attachment. In other words, consultants are less attached to the company itself than to the vision it embodies.
An employer brand therefore only makes sense if it directly reflects the company’s project and identity. It represents the human side of this project and unites consultants around common values and commitments. It is essential to build an employer brand that authentically conveys the organization’s culture.
However, retention ultimately depends on an attractive employer brand that delivers on its promises. Researcher François Dupuy, in his book The Bankruptcy of Managerial Thinking, points out that company values sometimes stray far from employees’ daily reality and may even conflict with work processes.
He distinguishes between structure (the theoretical organization of roles) and organization (the reality of how people actually work). For IT consulting firms, this means avoiding contradictions between the vision they promote and the day-to-day consultant experience.
For example, it is difficult to claim values of teamwork and sharing if consultants rarely have direct contact with their firm. Trust is only built when promises and reality align.
Ultimately, a consultant’s attachment to their firm echoes the criteria defined by the Great Place To Work ranking for evaluating quality of life at work. This includes both trust in management and the broader work environment : colleagues and atmosphere.
In the face of the growing freelance model, IT consulting firms have the opportunity to position themselves as an alternative professional experience, enriching each consultant’s career through diverse assignments, strong administrative support, and above all, the chance to contribute to a collective vision that goes beyond the individual consultant.
