How Ramadan affects the Gulf consulting market

By Jodi Davies

Organisations in the Gulf, we know, have massive agendas for investment but are chronically short of well-educated and experienced people to help realise them.  It’s this coincidence of workload and scarcity that underpins the terrific growth in consulting in the region, increasing by around a fifth in each of the last two years.

It shows up, too, in the surveys we do of clients in the region: earlier this year we published data that showed, inter alia, that increased expenditure on consultants is more likely to be driven by the need for individuals, either experts or simply extra pairs of hands during busy periods, than by more traditional consulting motivations – the need to validate difficult strategic decisions, for example.  Consulting firms, too, struggle to find good people locally and, while they have the advantage of being able to fly in consultants from other, less busy parts of the world, that’s becoming a less acceptable solution in a region which wants to increase the skills of local people.

Meeting clients’ needs during Ramadan is even more challenging.

With many people in clients’ organisations working shorter hours or taking holidays, the reliance on consulting firms to provide extra capacity increases.  In many cases this offsets the smaller number of classic consulting projects commissioned.  “Where we do see a change is in the decision-making process,” said one firm we spoke to, “particularly for clients who like to have the buy-in of multiple stake holders.  With key members of staff being away and reduced hours decision-making slows done.  The bigger the project, the more likely this is to be the case.”  Where demand tends to drop most is in public sector organisations; it also drops more in Saudi Arabia than the UAE.

Being able to deal with ad hoc requests for help, while the start of major projects is delayed and while many local staff are also taking time off means that consulting firms have to work especially hard to provide an environment where people can continue to work comfortably if they choose to do so.  All the firms we spoke to offer reduced standard hours and ensure that there’s no eating or drinking in public places.  Some provide more opportunities to work from home and try to reduce the need for people to travel.  Others have events which bring together Muslim and non-Muslim staff – one firm we spoke to has a joint Iftar: “We go to a local restaurant and everyone gets into the spirit of Ramadan.”  Ramadan is a month of reflection, so some firms use it as a period during which people can think about what’s important and to plan ahead: “We all (Muslim and non-Muslim) take time to appreciate our blessings,” said another.

With demand for consulting work growing robustly in most parts of the world, we shouldn’t forget that it’s occasionally good to step back from the daily grind.

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