During the recent round of earnings calls for Human Resources consulting firms, it became increasingly clear that these providers' growth strategies are shifting the dynamics of the HR consulting landscape, creating greater space for competition from the fast-growing HR advisory businesses of the Big Four.
The tension reflects challenges providers are facing around designing a business model that is client-focused and growth-oriented in the context of core consulting competencies, but also competitive in the open market. It was essentially a good quarter for Aon Hewitt, Mercer and Towers Watson, with organic growth ranging between 3 percent and 7 percent. However, much of that growth is coming from non-consulting businesses, such as private health exchanges and delegated investment outsourcing with their pricing models based on commissions and assets under management.
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