Talent retention strategies: An exploratory study within the consulting industry in Gauteng province, South Africa

Abstract

According to Consultancy (2018), the consulting industry is worth approximately R125 billion with 60 000 professionals. The consulting industry accounts for over half of the African continent’s overall industry and it has grown in recent years. The consultancy industry globally has however witnessed a paradigm shift over the past few years in terms of its nature, level of technology and overall scope of work (Srinivasan 2014). Over the last few decades, business consulting has recorded continuous and significant dynamic growth. The great economic relevance of the consulting industry has attracted many young professionals (Nissen 2019). However, the industry has also experienced some major changes over the past few years. These changes inform the introduction of new business processes and the approaches in designing their compensation system to retain talent. The objective of many organisations is to remain in, or gain, a competitive advantage within the market and to deliver more value to their stakeholders (Liberty 2017). This is often a challenge in the consulting industry as organisations struggle to attain commitment from their employees. The current study aims to bridge the gap by suggesting initiatives for retaining talent. In the consulting industry, which is a knowledge-intensive industry, human resources (HR) are considered to be the most important asset (Badiyala 2015), and maintaining their performance and retaining them is of particular importance. Orientation: The consultancy industry globally has witnessed a paradigm shift over the past few years in terms of its nature, employee turnover and attraction and retention of talent. These changes have posed a challenge because the industry struggles to attain commitment from their employees.