Managing a consulting workforce with OPTA

Freshminds Interim; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job description

Managing a consulting workforce with OPTA

At Freshminds, we have always been curious to talk to our consulting partners about the problems they are facing.

For 25 years, we’ve been the contractor partner to a multitude of consulting firms – we’re trusted to augment the brilliant teams they put forward to their clients, with the skill sets they might be missing in-house. It’s where our extensive network of interim and freelance consultants really come into their own – and are trusted to deliver.

But a shift is occurring. Speaking with some of our partners and network, it’s evident that our consulting clients are beginning to revisit their workforce strategy as a whole. The current market, with its shifting currents, is bringing new challenges to their businesses for the longer term.

The less flexible model of hiring en masse, permanently, is no longer fit for purpose – and is costing businesses hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in hiring and restructuring costs just to meet the continuously fluctuating demand cycles.

This highly changeable market – not just in demand, but in the specialised new skill sets being requested – is forcing consultancies to review their strategy. And working in parallel with the needs of our clients, Freshminds has adapted too.

Why are consulting firms reviewing their workforce strategy?

Digging deeper into what’s happening on the ground, we asked our customers why they are changing their workforce structures, and importantly, how. Comments from our consulting partners paint a fairly consistent picture.

“ We typically didn’t use many contractors. But the market is shifting – our price point is high, and the market’s cost pressures mean we need to review how we hire permanently. We lose bids based on our price and sometimes gaps in expertise that are required, and we need to find a way to make those price points more adaptable. ”

Director, top 10 UK consultancy

“ We went into a consulting downturn [in 2023], and that's made it pretty excruciating for employees to have any intellectually stimulating work. A little bit worse than that too, some people have gone - where we had to make redundancies, or they left as they were bored. If we'd had more contingent workers, it would have enabled us to weather the storm a little more. We wouldn't have overhired. It helps us to be more resilient. A higher percentage [of contingent] is required in a growing business. ”

Chief Operating Officer, SME management consultancy

Which elements of contingent hiring don’t work for you right now?

Contingent hiring throws up its own challenges and can be difficult to manage, especially in terms of planning ahead and being able to react quickly:

“ It’s all about timing. You need really good people, but you need the work to correlate. The best people aren’t usually available, but the permanent requirement isn’t really there, either… And you get such variable quality. Everyone seems to be £500 a day now. ”

Chief Commercial Officer, Public Sector Consultancy

“ Bringing in contingent is painfully admin-heavy . We like one master services agreement with suppliers, where if we say to them “this is a Moira job”, we get a Moira. ”

Partner, leading Management Consulting firm

How will future workforce strategies differ to today?

Looking forward, the sense seems to be that the contingent workforce will gain in importance for consulting firms. When asked for a prediction for a future workforce structure, the Commercial Director of an SME-focused management consultancy said: “It’s quite simple. 50% contingent, 50% permanent.”

A Partner at a leading management consultancy added:

“Where the skill or experience shortages are, we’ll be focusing our contingent hiring there. For example, that middle-management consultant layer. We struggle to sell those consultants in today’s market. It would be good to have a more concrete and time effective contingent option.”

Enter Freshminds OPTA – your open talent partner, built for the future of consulting.

We’ve listened to the challenges. As more firms shift towards a contingent workforce model, the reality is that managing multiple suppliers, freelancer pools, alumni, and ad-hoc contractors quickly becomes time-consuming, inconsistent, and admin-heavy. It shouldn’t be.

That’s where OPTA comes in. Freshminds now provides a streamlined, standardised solution – a single, flexible ecosystem for temporary talent.

On top of access to Freshminds’ envied on-demand network, OPTA allows our consulting clients to extend their bench to include a wide network of curated contingent workers, with Freshminds managing briefs, selection, hiring, payroll, retention and roll off, all according to the demands of your business.

Whether you're looking to scale quickly, to fill niche skill gaps, or adapt to shifting client demands, OPTA ensures you have the right people, ready when you need them. Through our own network, managing third party agencies for you, and managing your own freelancer pool – we offer a simple, strategic solution built for today’s consulting landscape.

Freshminds OPTA is your dedicated partner to managing your contingent workforce.

If you’d like to hear more about how OPTA works – contact the Freshminds team.

Fresh minds spark success.

Freshminds is a leading network of consulting expertise. With 25 years of experience, we combine senior recruitment with complex research and consulting projects.

With new permanent and project opportunities across a variety of leading companies being added each week, explore the range of opportunities on offer and start your next career journey.

We’re here to help with your business challenge. Get in touch to find out more and start the conversation today.