Management Consulting: Burned out employees are running on fumes?

I recently took the initiative to survey over 40,000 people working in management consulting and asked them ‘How close are you to a job burnout?’ 6 out of 10 consultants responded that they are either ‘close to’ or ‘already burned out’.

A job burnout is defined as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:

1. Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion

2. Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job

3. Reduced professional efficacy

A burnout is being considered by the World Health Organization as a medical condition and was recently added to the International Disease Classification (ICD-11). It typically is narrowed down to to a phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.

With the long hours  –  often ranging between 60 to 80 hours per week  –  weekly plane commutes to clients, high pressure to deliver within tight timelines, and lack of control over personal time, management consultants are not a stranger to burnouts. Consequently, the industry often sees a high attrition rate ranging between 15–25% annually. In other words, a typical consultant tends to stay in their job between 2.5 to 3 years before calling it quits, especially at the top tier firms. This reality is extremely costly to companies, requiring them invest heavily in recruitment and always be on the hunt for new talent willing to put up with the heat of the job.

Over the years, the industry had set a few measures to deal with this medical condition. Firms allow their employees to take an unpaid Leave of Absence as a way to get away from the daily stress, they provide weekly ‘pulse checks’ in the form of surveys to ensure that teams log their work-life quality, and recently, video conference yoga sessions and mental health webinars seem to be in fashion. However, the problem seems to persist since nearly 60% of the workforce seems to still be close to or already burned out.

Last year, the attrition rate seemed to have risen even more  –  captured by the recent economic trend called the Great Resignation (also known as the Big Quit) where employees voluntarily resign from their jobs ‘en masse’ primarily in the USA  –  and companies are finding it harder to retain top talent. As a result, top tier firms are increasing salaries and bonuses and providing additional free days off from work.

These measures might help minimize attrition but the real problem still lies in how the industry is shaped. The long hours, the constant stress, and the lack of control over one’s personal time are driven by the way business is run and firms have been circling around the problem without dealing with the crux of the matter for far too long. As a motivated and passionate consultant, I am eager to see change  –  when will companies start prioritizing employee mental health and well-being over maximizing profit? If managed correctly, the equation can be a net positive for companies. They would be able to retain their top talent, achieve higher productivity, and appeal more to the next generation of talent, generation Z and alpha, who are attracted to jobs and industries providing more stability and balance  –  which currently is not the management consulting industry.

The motto of ‘if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen’ must not apply anymore in management consulting. It is time to ask ourselves how can we improve and bring the heat down because if 6 out of 10 people in the industry are close to or already have a medical condition , i.e. job burnout, there must be something terribly wrong with the kitchen.