Managing Employability in the German Consultancy Industry

13.7 Summary of Results and Conclusions

We found that back office staff and consultants differ in their self-reports of employability: consultants see themselves as more employable than back office employees. We found that from the perspective of employees there is room for improvement especially with regard to activities related to identity growth and self-organization. In other words, individual development activities are doubtless taking place but individuals do not seem to follow an employability development master plan where they have established clear goals and strategies for themselves. We also found that participating organizations mostly do not offer those HR instruments that are geared at offering support with developing such a master plan for all employees. We therefore propose for consultancy firms to engage in some activities that are introduced specifically for the purpose of facilitating employability. We also propose to provide support mainly on the basis of a vulnerability principle. Internal mentoring programs focusing on employability and/or supporting access to external career advisors present two options for further developing organizational employability offers in consulting firms.