BrazilProfessional services consulting firm XtraAdvice launches
A new consulting firm has launched simultaneously in the Netherlands and the United States. XtraAdvice focuses on helping professional services firms define and implement future-proof strategies and companies with professionalising their operations and people.
XtraAdvice has been founded by a team of ten experienced partners, all of who build on a strong background in professional service firms and in the academic world. The group of founding partners include eight based in the Netherlands – Emile Aarts, Luc Swaab, Hans van den Hurk, Stef Oud, Willem Bourgonje, Vera Melis and Fred van Eenennaam (part time US) – and two based in the US – Ron Mangun and Tamara Swaab.
The team of professionals have joined forces as part of their ambition to help professional services groups better position themselves amid a period of major change. Professional services firms are seeing practically all facets of their business model undergo significant change, against a backdrop of changing client demands, knowledge leadership being eroded by the democratisation of knowledge, pressure on fees, globalising competition, and the threat of certain parts of work being digitised by intelligent machines.
Meanwhile, talent management has become more pressing than ever for professional services firms. Millennial talent is putting a whole new mix of requirements on the table for partners, while broader developments are placing topics such as work-life balance and workplace culture at the forefront of talent agendas.
With a range of services across business development, marketing, internal operations, leadership enablement and human capital, XtraAdvice will help professional services firms “determine winning strategies, as well as delivering them,” explained Stef Oud, a partner at XtraAdvice and formerly a partner at A.T. Kearney and Deloitte. “Our senior experts can provide tailored projects and/or ad-interim support.” The firm also offers services at the most granular level possible, among others coaching individuals through career phases, such as partner promotion trajectories."
Focus on professional services
XtraAdvice is dedicated to the professional services industry, with an initial focus on companies in the accounting, consulting, tax, law and executive search segments. The consultancy will however also serve companies that operate professional services groups – internal strategy consulting, project management or legal counsel divisions. In many industries, the use of such groups is on the rise said Oud, as they seek to lower their dependence on external firms while bolstering their own agility and capabilities to improve shareholder value.
While XtraAdvice formally launched at the start of the week, the founding partners have over the past months under the firm’s banner teamed up to work for several clients. “We’ve for instance helped a management consulting firm win new clients, and the chief operation officer of a technology advisory firm during her transition into a new role,” commented Oud.
“We believe that with our elaborate mix of senior experts and focused propositions we can support our clients to successfully navigate today’s challenges. And as our name emphasises – we’re ready to go the extra mile to realise the goals.”
