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Retention management in international professional services firms: an empirical study of best practices in management consultancies
Abstract
Thesis (doctoral)--Universität St. Gallen, 2004.
... In order to develop wholesome and meaningful retention strategies for a PSF, it is essential to go through some steps that would help the firm build, maintain and motivate a highly knowledgeable and skilled workforce and, at the same time, work towards the gradual reduction of replacement costs. Unfortunately, not too many firms worry about the development of the product that any PSF tries to sell in the marketplace: the knowledge, skills and abilities of its staff (Maister, 1993; Vaiman, 2004). While professional knowledge is explicit and can easily be codified and shared, professional skills and abilities are implicit and can be developed only through practice and shared professional experiences. ...
... This very knowledge is supposed to be protected in order to reduce the cost of replacing a departed top performer. Incidentally, both coaching and mentoring are among the top reasons identified by the author as key reasons why professionals stay with PSFs (Vaiman, 2004). The quality of coaching programmes largely depends on the coach himself/herself. ...
Despite the recent economic downturn, retention management
remains one of the most relevant and significant topics in international Human
Resource Management (HRM). The most common explanation for such a
significance is that excellent retention management has become a major source
of competitive advantage in the modern and rapidly globalising business world.
Another key reason that is mentioned by a majority of companies is that it just
simply costs too much money to replace even one valuable employee.
Hence, the main task of retention management is twofold. Besides
applying the correct motivation techniques to retain its top talent and maintain a
competitive advantage, the organisation also has to reduce the replacement cost
and especially its ‘soft’ component (the cost of losing employees’ experience,
professional expertise, key customer relationships, etc.) if or when an employee
does decide to leave.
Most of the academic literature on retention deals with general and
unspecific preventive strategies pertaining mainly to industrial companies. This
paper concentrates particularly on the retention techniques designed to protect
the important tacit knowledge in Professional Services Firms (PSFs), which
would help them reduce their overall replacement costs and increase their
competitiveness in the marketplace.
... Also, no significant differences were found in regard to personal needs between the two groups of consultants. This may be explained by the fact that in general professional service employees tend to exhibit the same personality characteristics, despite personality distinctions and firm affiliation (Vaiman, 2004). ...
Purpose
– This paper seeks to challenge the claim that traditional and non‐traditional employees differ significantly in terms of their needs, personality characteristics, and work motivation patterns, by surveying management consultants in Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
– The study is based on a quantitative online survey undertaken among 204 Canadian management consultants in 2008, representing both traditional employed consultants, contingent consultants, and company representatives.
Findings
– The study demonstrated no significant differences with regard to needs, motivation, and personality characteristics between traditional and non‐traditional employed management consultants, which means that no significant changes to existing human resource management policies seem to be needed.
Originality/value
– The existing literature on contingent employees' needs, personality characteristics and work motivation has mainly been devoted to the study of differences between traditional and non‐traditional work arrangements seen as single groups. This study extends and complements the understanding of the underlying dimensions of both the explicit and the implicit contract within the contingent management consultant‐organization relationship in order to explain the influence of these dimensions on the human resource management strategies. The underlying assumption is that non‐traditional work arrangements vary according to the type of job and the context in which the job is performed.
... In order to reflect the great need for new and promising ideas on the topic, we have deliberately opted for a broad mix of contributions. As there is an on-going debate about the exact meaning of the term professional service firm and the lack of a clear industry classification (Alvesson, 2004;Lowendahl, 2005;Vaiman, 2004Vaiman, , 2008, the articles in this special issue cover a wide range of industries. You will also note that we have included both conceptual and empirical papers, and among the latter you will find articles that are built on both quantitative and qualitative approaches. ...
In today’s globalized world, the importance of acquiring and using the latest know-how is steadily growing, helping companies to gain an advantage over competitors. Decreasing geographical and cultural distances allow organizations to do business in the global market and to make their goods and services available to a greater number of consumers: new means of communication and transportation have facilitated rapid growth in international trade (Kotler et al., 1999).
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