Sponsorship and career progression in the consulting industry

[摘要] For people of equal aptitude and accomplishment, differences in career progression to the senior ranks of a professional services firm are often attributed to the presence or absence of sponsorship from senior executives. Senior advocates play a critical role in career advancement by identifying opportunities and by giving proteges the chance to compete for those opportunities. My hypothesis is that people who desire advancement need a clear sponsor within an organization in order to plan a path forward and to bring visibility to their past accomplishments and their future potential. The hypothesis was evaluated in the consulting industry. The basis for the research was a combination of field study interviews and an experimental survey. The field study involved interviewing Senior Executives in the consulting industry who have chosen to make a long-term career in the industry and those who have moved onto other industries. Vignettes of the interviewee;;s description of their career progression were developed and survey tested with mid-career executives. The survey participants rated the competency, level of sponsorship, and promotion readiness of the candidate. Varying the candidate;;s gender across the surveys also tested the effect of gender on promotion rating. From the survey results, competency was the most significant predictor of promotion with female gender having a negative, but smaller, yet still statistically significant effect. Sponsorship did not have a statistically significant effect on promotion within the survey study. However, sponsorship was identified in addition to competence and opportunity as a key factor to interviewee;;s success. This difference in sponsorship indicates discontinuity between described practice and observed interpretation.

[发布机构] Massachusetts Institute of Technology