Comatch adds personal fit to consultant matching algorithm
Consulting marketplace Comatch has introduced a new automated feature aimed at bringing a more personal touch to the client-consultant matchmaking process.
Since its inception in 2014, leading consultancy matchmaking platform Comatch has helped facilitate upwards of 3,800 completed projects all over the world, drawing on its network of 12,500-plus independent consultants and subject experts to support businesses in finding the perfect fit for their advisory needs. One of the keys behind this success has been the attention paid to softer skills, those personal qualities beyond industry experience and technical know-how.
Now, the company has introduced StyleMatch to its matching algorithm, an automated feature designed to align the working styles and preferences of the registered consultants with the company environment and specific task at hand. Developed in conjunction with Cologne-based staffing agency Catch Talents, which specialises in workplace personality analysis, the new tool allows clients and freelancers to better ensure they are the right fit from the outset.
“Up to now, we have collected impressions in personal conversations, for example in our interviews with applicants,” says managing director Jan Schächtele, who spent six years at McKinsey & Company prior to co-founding Comatch. “The StyleMatch questionnaire additionally provides us with scientifically sound results in less than ten minutes. This is a great addition and simplification, and a very supportive tool within the decision process.”
Often considered in blanket terms as ‘desirable’, soft skills can refer to a wide variety of attributes, some of which may be contrasting. For example, some consultants flourish in a collaborative environment, displaying especially strong interpersonal skills, while others might be individual thinkers, with the ability to excel through other soft skills such as initiative and self-motivation. When it comes to a given project, it’s not always one style fits all.
Based on the globally-recognised Team Management Profile psychological model, consultants respond to a brief survey of 28 questions across the four dimensions of communication & leadership, working methods & approach, collaboration, and preferred project framework. The survey was specifically designed for Comatch’s needs and tested with 100 consultants of the network.
StyleMatch then identifies their individual strengths and categorises their predominant traits under one of eight banners such as Collective Thinker, Diplomat, Enforcer, Analyser, or Explorer.
Fellow Comatch co-founder and managing director Christoph Hardt, gives the broad example of a client in search of consulting support on a change management project, which might best suit a consultant identified as a Collective Thinker or Diplomat, whereas a restructuring project might require an Enforcer and Doer. An innovation management assignment on the other hand might also be best undertaken by a Doer, but this time with an Explorer element to their profile rather than an Enforcer one.
Each style is given equal weighting in importance says Hardt (also an alumnus of McKinsey), as different projects require differing qualities. “We are giving clients more control over the success of their project with StyleMatch. They decide: Do we need a particularly assertive or rather a diplomatic communicator, someone with strong analytical skills or a pragmatic doer?”