Does the consultancy model need an overhaul? These agencies think so
Does the consultancy model need an
overhaul? These agencies think so
Several women-led organizations are trying to reshape the development consultancy world to address issues such as unpaid assignments, inequitable payment, and consultant burnout.
As a consultant with an extensive period of work spanning 25 years in the development space, communications specialist Deborah Walter is used to looking for the next contract while working on the current one. But in the past few years, she has noticed one big trend related to the job search.
“There seems to be a lack of understanding and under-valuing of consultants’
time, energy, and creative intellectual property,” South Africa-based Walter,
who co-runs social change agency Community Media for Development
Productions on the side, told Devex.
In the past, she’s been asked to develop a hypothetical communications strategy
framework along with press releases, social media posts, and talking points for
interviews plus proposed campaign brand ideas and initial mock-ups and videos
for potential work with several organizations, which, as a busy wife and mother,
Walter brands “unreasonable.”
As the founder and managing director of recently rebranded social change agency Comotion, one of several women-led organizations now trying to reshape the development consultancy world so that others aren’t just talking the talk but are also walking it, Rachel Firth agrees.
“I think we've all likely had experiences of going for job interviews, having to
basically write strategies as part of the interview process, then not getting the
job, and you're wondering ‘Well how many of those ideas are they going to take
from that and now use?’” she told Devex.
“That's your intellectual property — and you should be paid for it.”
Comotion, a global network of activists, strategists, campaigners, and creatives
spanning all regions and fields of work, formerly known as Global Office
Consulting and WomenInDev, was set up by London-based Firth in 2015 in
response to a traditional consultancy model that she said was broken. Firth’s
previous experience includes roles with the International Confederation of
Midwives, The Wellbeing Foundation Africa, and Worldwide Helpers.
The agency — which offers a range of services from strategy development to
proposal writing to training and curricula development and has worked for the
Global Fund for Women, the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action, and
Mama Cash among others — has committed to paying all of their
consultants for any test that they ask them to undertake for any potential work.
overhaul? These agencies think so
Several women-led organizations are trying to reshape the development consultancy world to address issues such as unpaid assignments, inequitable payment, and consultant burnout.
As a consultant with an extensive period of work spanning 25 years in the development space, communications specialist Deborah Walter is used to looking for the next contract while working on the current one. But in the past few years, she has noticed one big trend related to the job search.
“There seems to be a lack of understanding and under-valuing of consultants’
time, energy, and creative intellectual property,” South Africa-based Walter,
who co-runs social change agency Community Media for Development
Productions on the side, told Devex.
In the past, she’s been asked to develop a hypothetical communications strategy
framework along with press releases, social media posts, and talking points for
interviews plus proposed campaign brand ideas and initial mock-ups and videos
for potential work with several organizations, which, as a busy wife and mother,
Walter brands “unreasonable.”
As the founder and managing director of recently rebranded social change agency Comotion, one of several women-led organizations now trying to reshape the development consultancy world so that others aren’t just talking the talk but are also walking it, Rachel Firth agrees.
“I think we've all likely had experiences of going for job interviews, having to
basically write strategies as part of the interview process, then not getting the
job, and you're wondering ‘Well how many of those ideas are they going to take
from that and now use?’” she told Devex.
“That's your intellectual property — and you should be paid for it.”
Comotion, a global network of activists, strategists, campaigners, and creatives
spanning all regions and fields of work, formerly known as Global Office
Consulting and WomenInDev, was set up by London-based Firth in 2015 in
response to a traditional consultancy model that she said was broken. Firth’s
previous experience includes roles with the International Confederation of
Midwives, The Wellbeing Foundation Africa, and Worldwide Helpers.
The agency — which offers a range of services from strategy development to
proposal writing to training and curricula development and has worked for the
Global Fund for Women, the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action, and
Mama Cash among others — has committed to paying all of their
consultants for any test that they ask them to undertake for any potential work.
