BrazilComatch's talent pool exceeds 9,000 independent consultants
German-origin Comatch has continued its growth in the past year, and its talent pool has now surpassed 9,000 independent consultants. Having rapidly become Europe’s go-to-platform for independent management consultants and industry experts, Comatch has set its sights on betting big in the globe’s largest freelance hub.
Founded in 2015 by former McKinsey consultants Christoph Hardt and Jan Schächtele, Comatch is currently one of Europe’s leading consultant matchmaking companies. The firm’s platform combines innovative technology with a stringent vetting, categorisation, and assignment process, putting skilled freelance consultants in contact with companies in need of independent solutions. Originally based in Berlin, the fast-growing firm has since expanded to the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the UK, its second largest market of France, a small operation in the Middle East, and the US.
The recent opening of Comatch’s US headquarters in New York was particularly significant. In the first six months of 2019, the number of independent consultants in the Comatch network in the US doubled. As a result, the firm’s global network has managed to grow to more than 9,000 consultants and counting.
“Our move into New York City has rapidly escalated the number of members of our eminently qualified consultant pool in the US,” said Sven Merten, Managing Director US at Comatch. “Our impact on the consulting industry, our on-going success and the desire for top-tier consultants to become a part of the Comatch network is a testament to the success of our unique methodology.”
New processes
More than 10% of the management consultants in the network previously worked for one of the traditional top tier consultancies (McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company) and a further 15% worked for one of the international Big Four companies (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG). This is one of the key forces behind Comatch’s success, as over five years it has managed to create a broad network of hand-picked freelance consultants, successfully completed more than 2,000 projects worldwide, supporting companies of all sizes source talent quickly, even amid a global talent crunch.
This does not mean the company is resting on its laurels though, and a number of new developments are poised to push Comatch into a new phase of expansion. Comatch’s current process to link consultants with clients combines an innovative matching algorithm with the know-how of experienced employees. However, this has recently been augmented further through the addition of a new algorithm, which helps match soft skills to the projects best suited to their criteria. The Consultant Preference Indicator, COPI for short, was developed together with Catch Talents.
"In recent years, we have proven how well, quickly and reliably our innovative technology finds the right expertise for our clients. With COPI, we are adding a crucial dimension to the automatic matching process and ensuring that the non-technical strengths and preferences of the consultants are taken into account even better in this step," commented Managing Director Schächtele.
Elsewhere, this has led the firm to being able to open up a line of operation which sees it move into a different ball-game from the pure marketplace for independent consultants. With a burgeoning executive search function, which can help firms find employees for permanent (ComatchPerm) or interim positions and assist independent consultants with transitioning back into permanent roles (if they so choose), Comatch has found a way to expand within its own value chain.
Speaking to Consultancy.eu earlier this year, Benelux Director Tjeerd Wijffels explained; “We have consultants in our network who are not necessarily dedicated to work independently for the rest of their lives. They maybe worked in consulting, then moved to corporate life, and then spent some time in freelance. For them, Comatch is great as it gives them projects from a range of places and service lines. At the time they decide to look around for other opportunities, our new operation enters the stage.”
Ultimately, Comatch’s success boils down to the contentedness of clients. Managing Director Christoph Hardt concluded; "Our clients are very satisfied with the performance of the consultants we find for them. This is clearly reflected in our recommendation rate of 92%. It pays off that we are very strict in the selection of applicants for our network and only about half of the already highly qualified applicants ultimately join the network. Quality is the decisive success factor.”
