Transformation Consultant

Transformation consultants help clients improve their businesses by overhauling their procedures and processes. In other words, their task is to identify how their clients operate and how they could do it better, suggesting a variety of adjustments and improvements to help them improve their organisation as much as possible.

The diversity of potential career paths within transformation stems from the extremely wide scope of consultancy roles an expert can be involved in, including:

• financial performance

• managing customer relations

• supply chains/logistics

• human resources

• IT systems

• telecommunications

• project management, etc.

At the start of their careers, transformation consultants won’t necessarily specialise in just one field, but as they gain experience and seniority, they may decide to focus on one field of activity or even set up their own practice.

Consultancy takes place in various stages

In order to fully support their clients, transformation projects usually take place in various stages.

The first phase involves diagnostics and analysing what’s already in place, in other words: what processes does the client follow? Do they work? This phase essentially consists of quantified analyses, performance assessments and meetings with the various stakeholders involved.

Based on their background research, consultants will then present the main lessons to their clients, particularly the main areas for improvement.

Finally, the solutions deemed relevant and appropriate to improving how the client’s business performs need to be implemented.

As part of a typical transformation project, the implementation stage will involve:

• introducing new tools, including:

  • accounting systems

  • new management tools to help guide the company’s operations

  • new ERP tools (enterprise resource planning, software that helps manage a variety of business processes, such as sales)

  • new CRM tools (customer relationship management tools)

• reorganising and restructuring departments and divisions

• improving any existing management systems in place

An example of a transformation project in the field of financial performance would be helping a bank transform its accounting software.

Consultants would visit their client to better understand their needs in terms of their accounting system and any current problems they were experiencing, before meeting with a software developer to review their tools and settings in accordance with the client’s needs.

Working as a transformation consultant

For the most part, consultants work on a freelance basis for a variety of big companies (e.g. Ernst&Young, Deloitte, Accenture, Eurogroup), but they may also work within a company on a permanent basis wherever a dedicated transformation unit exists (like at Orange, for example).

Mostly, consultants will be working on teams with people of varying seniority, from interns and trainees to managers and directors in overall charge of relationships with the world’s biggest companies.

Consultants generally work on site with their clients in dedicated rooms and facilities, but will also have to meet with large numbers of contacts within the organisation, especially during the diagnostics phase.

They’ll often be dealing with logistics managers, financial controllers, finance directors, internal auditors, and so on.

Typical educational background

5 years of higher education, business or engineering studies, PhD

Required skills

Consultants need to be able to analyse and summarise vast amounts of complex information with a great deal of common sense, relationship skills, ERP and CRM skills, whilst being comfortable with information technology and internal audits