Consulting Talent Pyramid & Career Progression Playbook
- Executive
- Intermediate
- Template Included
A framework for designing consulting firm career progression — goals, feedback cadence, and promotion readiness criteria — specific and consistent enough that consultants can genuinely understand and plan against what advancement requires, rather than a promotion process that feels opaque or inconsistently applied.
Why does promotion criteria opacity matter for a consulting firm
specifically? Consulting firms depend heavily on a healthy talent pyramid — enough junior talent developing into senior roles — and opaque or inconsistent promotion criteria is one of the most common drivers of talented consultant attrition, directly threatening that pyramid health.
How specific should promotion criteria actually be?
Specific enough that two different evaluators would reach the same conclusion about whether a given consultant meets the bar — vague criteria ("shows leadership potential") invite inconsistent application that erodes trust in the process.
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