Going Dutch?

I wrote recently about how Spanish consulting firms have responded to collapsing domestic demand by working with local companies expanding into the South American market and with South American markets looking to build a presence in Spain. The Dutch consulting industry hasn’t had anything like such a difficult time, but it’s been tough nevertheless. The response, however, of Dutch firms has been quite different.

Two factors make the Netherlands a peculiarly challenging market. The first is the shape of the Dutch economy. Although the financial services industry, like manufacturing, accounts for around a quarter of the market, this is a slightly lower percentage than elsewhere. The banking sector in particular is 15% smaller than the average across Europe, 30% less than in the UK (which has the biggest financial services consulting market). This means that Dutch consultants have had fewer opportunities than their colleagues in the UK, France and Germany to work on the regulatory and restructuring projects which are the continuing aftershocks of the financial crisis. To compound the problem, the Dutch market has a higher-than-average dependence on the public sector and, within that, on programme management – a combination that, our research suggests, makes it particularly vulnerable to cutbacks.

But the other thing that makes the Dutch market peculiarly hard is that the consulting business model appears to be changing faster here than anywhere else, fuelled by a strong market for freelance consultants. Some firms have a hybrid model combining consulting with interim management: Turner is a good example, but Bakkenist has recently entered into an alliance with an interim management company and others will no doubt follow suit. Twynstra Gudde, which also boasts a large network of associates working alongside its full-time consultants, has taken a new tack, setting up a practice that takes ten people a year straight from university and provides a combination of business education (five days a month) and practical consulting experience. At the end of a standard three-year contract, these people may be invited to join Twynstra Gudde or they may choose to work for a client or even a competitor. The approach has benefits all round: new graduates gain business experience; Twynstra Gudde can test their mettle, securing a pipeline of good recruits in an increasing tight labour market; those who leave may well think of themselves as alumni, building an important network for the future.

But perhaps the most significant thing about all these examples is that they offer clients a choice; they acknowledge, quite explicitly, that different consulting projects require different types of people. Small strategy projects might need a couple of experts, but no juniors; consultants-turned-client may not need expert advice, but bright, energetic graduates to help them implement.

The Dutch consulting market may be lagging its larger neighbours in terms of growth, but it’s leading the way in redefining what we mean by consulting.