With the diversification of the consulting professions, a new specialty has emerged that is sought after by both large and small companies: organization management. The organization consultant intervenes at the major stages of change in a company or during its life in order to optimize its organization for the people who work there as well as for the success of its commercial activity. He or she has expertise in project management, change management and management, which allows him or her to take a fresh look at things and to benefit from the hindsight necessary to build a healthy and efficient organization in order to support his or her client companies.
The profession of organization consultant
As an expert in the adaptation of companies, the organization consultant is called upon by the management of companies facing a change problem. His/her mission is to lead the change by establishing a diagnosis on which he/she elaborates recommendations. His/her objective is to transform the processes in order to allow the company to perform.
The mission of the organization consultant extends over three main stages: audit/diagnosis - formulation of recommendations - implementation.
At each of these stages, he/she is in charge of different missions.
At the beginning of the mission, the consultant :
- Conducts interviews with the different actors of the company, organizes preparatory meetings with a constituted committee.
- Identifies the company's objectives, defines the scope of his/her mission,
- Immerse yourself in the company's culture and values to better understand it,
- Analyze the company's key processes, operations, and decision-making circuits,
- Prepares the guiding documents for his/her mission: roadmap, budget, resources, opportunities and obstacles, etc.
The consultant can thus organize his recommendations:
- Constitutes a schedule of conditions
- Facilitate meetings and gatherings in order to deepen his/her knowledge of the company's internal and external issues, and to understand the technical and functional specificities of each business.
- Creates recommendations: diagrams, scenarios, follow-up supports.
He/she is then in charge of the management of the improved project of his/her recommendations:
- He/she coordinates the phases of the project as well as their actors,
- He/she monitors the implementation of his/her recommendations through the reporting means (dashboards) that he/she has designed and analyzes the results step by step in order to prevent risks and propose adjustments if necessary.
- He/she accompanies the personnel concerned through meetings and follow-up interviews.
At the end of the mission, he/she organizes the closing of the transition, and can evaluate its impacts and measure the level of satisfaction of his/her client company.
Profile and qualities of the organization consultant
The consultant intervenes in the company at a key period in order to facilitate its adaptation to the changes, he/she must imperatively have strong capacities of observation, analysis and understanding. His/her human approach and his/her faculties of communication and diplomacy are his/her best assets in order to gather and federate the different actors of the organization he/she sets up.
Qualities :
- Curiosity
- Pedagogy
- Sense of listening
- Pragmatism and practicality
- Spirit of analysis and synthesis
- Versatility
- Availability and resistance to stress
Professional skills :
- Business expertise
- Project management, organization techniques, methodology
- Notions of ergonomics
- Interviewing techniques
- Writing skills
- Office software and software specific to business organization,
- Professional English
Training and diploma to become an organization consultant
The profession of organizational consultant is most often accessible to people with a minimum of 5 years of experience in the field of consulting, change management or in the profession(s) concerned by his action as a consultant. It is nevertheless possible to access this function directly after a diploma at the level of Bac+5, enhanced by significant internships.
The required training is a Master degree and can be obtained within different types of schools that offer professional training in management and business strategy:
- A professional Master's degree in the field of organization, corporate strategy, project management, auditing.
- A diploma from the Institute of Political Studies
- A degree from a business school
- A degree from an engineering school.
In continuing education, it is possible to build up an appropriate CV by completing a PMP (Project Management Professional) certification.
Salary and career perspectives
Salaries for organization consultants range from 34,000 to 60,000 euros gross per year in France, from £38,000 and £80,250 in the UK, $37,000 to 62 000 in the US, depending on experience, the size of the consulting firm, the difficulty of the mission and the client company. The consultant will have many opportunities: to take on more responsibility within his or her firm, to set up his or her own company, to take up a permanent position within a company or to take on management functions.
