Determinant factors of talent retention at a South African management consulting organisation

MBA 2014ABSTRACT The retention of talent in management consultancies is a key determinant of their success. This research endeavoured to identify those factors that impact talent retention at a major South African management consulting organisation. The ingenuity, skills and knowledge of talent are at the core of the management consulting value proposition. Their competitive advantage resides with the retention of their talent. These intellectuals craft industry and global best practises, innovate new ideas and concepts and assist with the operations and the business performance of clients. The qualitative research study was conducted with 36 respondents and employed a semi structured interview methodology. This further included a second stage where respondents ranked the factors of retention. Content analysis was used to analyse the responses from the semi structured interviews. The research embodied multiple data collection techniques such as conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews; presenting respondents with a rank order questionnaire; analysing on-boarding and exit interview data; reviewing company retention strategies, policies and turnover data. The results posit that talent remain within the employ at their organisations due to: the attraction and prestige associated with an immensely powerful brand; the access to a talented international network and intellectual property; the diverse and challenging work coupled with the leeway to create innovative solutions. In addition, leadership are cognisant of both professional and personal aspirations of talent; there is alignment and harmonisation of both individual and corporate goals; recognition by peers and leaders; and reward that is commensurate with performance. In addition, the results also highlight complacency and comfort as factors that were not indicated in the literature review. In this new talent struggle, issues of attracting, engaging and retaining talent has moved to the top of the talent agenda in different parts of the world. Organisations still need to present a common vision and set of values for their talent worldwide