There's no such thing as an infinite science, and even less such a thing as solutions that work every time! Kea's consulting promise is a shared, tailored, actionable response to the challenges faced by our customers. At the heart of this philosophy, co-construction has many virtues: building an appropriate response, capitalizing on in-house expertise, knowledge of the context and the interplay of players, immersing oneself in the existing culture, mobilizing teams, and valorizing the singularities of the company in question. Over the course of several iterations, this is also a way of ensuring that the proposed support is in line with the customer's expectations, and that it will lead to a result that is effectively implemented.
For consultants - from the youngest to the most experienced - this approach is embodied in the formulation of angles of consideration and methods on which to build with their customers.
Co-construct with the client
TESTIMONY
The diversity of the
consultant position at Kea?
A real asset!
Laura, Manager,
ESSEC
Right from the start, every consultant plays a key role in the customer's success
This diversity was the reason I decided to take the plunge into consulting, but it remained a paradox for me:
How to ensure you deliver value in every customer context? As young, freshly graduated consultants, how can you contribute to delivering an effective response to such varied strategic challenges?
Over the missions and the project teams, my questions have found an answer deeply rooted in the style and mode of management defended by Kea: right from the start, every consultant plays a key role in the customer's success. This contribution is consolidated as projects progress and takes different forms throughout the consultant's career.
Give perspective to exchanges
In terms of the value brought to the customer, this is, in my opinion, the primary role of the junior consultant!
Knowing how to summarize, structure and compare everyone's perceptions gives you a starting point, a basis for joint reflection on the project. Identifying the points of convergence, the subjects of debate, injecting key figures, formalizing the first avenues of solutions evoked and the associated action plan, are all roles that we Kea consultants play from our very first assignments.
Build supports that enable decision-making
Building a support that facilitates appropriation, that is capable of reacting and leading to clear, understood and shared decision-making... This is the consultant's next challenge, but above all a second step towards a better understanding of the various problems we encounter.
In addition to providing organized feedback, we'll be asked to make critical assessments, deconstruct the reasoning, give it substance and support the possible options, with a pedagogy adapted to the target audience.
At Kea, the transition from this first stage is often rapid, accelerated by the guidance of our most experienced staff.
Be the “guardian of the temple” and provide 360° vision
The scope of a project generally covers several locations, involving a large number of stakeholders. As Kea consultants often contribute to all these projects, they are in a position to provide a consolidated view of the progress being made, and to identify any dependencies or synergies between them.
This positioning gives them a key role in the various stages of a project. In the information and decision flow, we act as a point of reference, sounding the alarm if necessary, and challenging the customer in the event of any deviation from the initially defined trajectory.
Ask the right questions
The aim is not to understand and master everything right away. It's also unlikely that, as a young consultant, we'll have a better understanding of the subject than our customer, who has often been established in his sector and profession for years.
So what added value can we bring?
One answer lies in our ability to ask the right questions! Questions that bring a fresh, outside perspective; questions that challenge routines or assumptions established in contexts that are now outdated; in short, questions that push our customers in directions they hadn't even considered.
Often, our lack of direct involvement in the company, the possibility of freeing ourselves from internal constraints, or of playing on a certain “naive” side are all sources of value in questioning.
The transition from one stage to the next for Kea's consultant relies on a skilful blend of ingredients
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A significant part of the timeis devoted to supervising the younger members otf the team on the project;
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Every 6 weeks, time is devoted to sharing experience, across all grades;
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A balance of consultants is assessed and defined prior to each assignment at Kea. Taking into account the complexity or political dimension of the subject, the level of confrontation with the customer, the level of management or seniority are all criteria that enable us to place consultants in a logic of rapid evolution;
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Consultants are immediately empowered from their very first assignment, interfacing with customers.
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Training that accompanies each promotion of consultants to the next level, and tools that everyone can draw on.
In the end, this diversity of subjects is more of an asset than an obstacle!
A great variety of issues to deal with, sector-specific problems to investigate, customers in different stages of maturity to work with... such diversity in the consulting business can sometimes be intriguing!
Bring inspiration
The final step on the road to value for the young consultant: going beyond the answer to the question raised by the customer to instill a dynamic, set teams in motion and have an impact on the way a project or approach is seen or conceived.
How? or What?
Over and above the knowledge accumulated over the course of our assignments, the search for inspiration both internally (sharing past projects or those carried out by other consultants) and externally (opening up to other sectors, benchmarking, monitoring, conferences, experts, etc.) are all ways of renewing ourselves, even before renewing our added value at every level: innovative practices, new project methods, explosive ideas on the market.... Sources of inspiration for our customers are everywhere!
