Belongingness on the go: Examining road warrior consultants’ experiences of belongingness with their firms

Abstract

We examine how “road warrior consultants,” who spend a majority of workweek at the client location, describe their experiences of belongingness with their companies. Based on observations and semi-structured interviews with consultants, we identified three facets of consultants' experiences that were significant for organizational belongingness, namely: (1) connection with colleagues which refers to their interactions with others at their firm; (2) differentiation at the client firm which signifies experiences of differences and being an outsider at the client firm; (3) centrality of oneself at the consulting firm or experiences of handling significant roles in their firm. Our findings contribute to the literatures on consulting and belongingness, and also have broader implications for understanding belongingness dynamics in client-service professions.