Steaming ahead with Stream work

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This blog was written by Felicity Bainbridge. Felicity is a current member of the CDC graduate scheme.

One of the reasons why a career with Capgemini Consulting was initially so appealing was because of the emphasis that it places on people. This is an integral part of the company and is visible in client work, throughout the larger business and to a greater extent – within the CDC.

To develop business leadership, core consulting and people skills every CDCer is a member of a particular ‘stream’. Stream ‘work’ is in addition to client work and we set aside 4 hours a week to focus on our individual deliverable (task). Each stream has a stream ‘lead’ (another CDCer) who oversees the work of the stream and reports back to the stream client - a Consultant who helps to scope deliverables and monitors the progress of the stream. We rotate every 3 months so you will have the opportunity to experience most of the streams as well as applying to lead one! So, a brief introduction to the 8 different streams:

Events: What it says on the tin – the Events stream organise and coordinate all the events in the CDC calendar. This is from our monthly FNFS (Friday night of fun socials) to the quarterly CDC Meeting where we all get together for an afternoon of trade shows and discussions.

Recruitment: Deliverables include designing and testing the assessment centre group exercise, creating a graduate marketing questionnaire and organising buddies for the new intakes.

Internal Marketing: Write and send out the CDC Times (newsletter), manage the CDC Awards by collating and delivering a nominations pack, developing the CDCs relationship with the sectors, marketing the new CDC joiners to the rest of the business and finally, organising a rota for writing this blog!

Framework: Maintain the structure of the CDC by facilitating stream lead calls, creating milestone plans and writing the weekly CDC Bulletin. They also update the CDC calendar, manage the stream rotation process and deliver the CDC Census results – an anonymous questionnaire covering all aspects of the CDC which is presented at CDC Meetings.

Learning and Development: Monitor CDC ‘learning’ by organising ‘MySkills’ sessions (presentations delivered by CDCers on topics such as Excel and project roles to upskill others) and ensuring that the CDC follows their required training schedule by attending all mandatory courses.

External: The charity stream! This is wholly committed to running initiatives to support the Myotubular Trust and the Voluntary Police Cadets as well as raising as much money as possible for our charity of the year, Alzheimer’s Research UK. Deliverables this rotation have included coordinating and facilitating the fortnightly Charity of the Year call, running a CCUK eBay project and organising a weekend ASE (Accelerated Solutions Environment).

CCUK: Support the wider Consulting business by updating Silhouette profiles for members of the VPP (internal CVS for the Vice President and Principal Community), conduct external research on internal communication methods and analyse these results to provide recommendations.
Business: Concerned with supporting propositions and capability development across CCUK. This involves looking into the use of innovative tools to capture client assessments and researching how leaders in the digital space use them. The next phase is testing the tools and preparing them for client engagements.

It is important to remember that specific deliverables and required outputs vary for each stream from rotation to rotation. They very much depend on new ideas, different approaches and collaborative group work. Stream work is a great opportunity to cement the tools and training that we’ve been taught in a relatively ‘safe’ environment (not under the watchful eye of clients) and to enhance the community spirit that really does make the CDC a fantastic place to be and an excellent place to start your career!

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Working in the heart of it all

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Beginning life as a Consultant

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This blog was written by Amy Ratcliffe. Amy is currently a member of the CDC graduate development community.

 

Beginning life as a Consultant at Capgemini is an exciting, fast-paced and challenging experience: your first few months will see you meeting new people in the CDC and wider business, learning the various processes, systems and methods, and then finally taking the ultimate step of arriving on client site to deliver change. One aspect that can be overlooked, however, is what happens when we are between client projects or (as it is more commonly known) ‘on the bench’.

 

Bench time is a natural part of any Consultant’s career. Even if this is a relatively short period (e.g. a couple of days back in the office whilst roles are being confirmed), it will happen to all of us at some point and can be really valuable if used wisely. At the most basic level, time on the bench can be used to catch up on all necessary admin after a client engagement such as submitting expenses, updating ‘Silhouette’ – our internal CV system – and catching up on any outstanding learning and development tasks e.g. Computer Based Training. After this there are a number of other things you can do which makes bench time fun and also very rewarding for your long term career: you can use the time to speak to your Resourcing Manager about upcoming projects, network with members of your Capability Unit and CDC over coffee and, perhaps most importantly, pick up internal work or ‘cookies’.

 

‘Cookies’ is the informal term given to short pieces of internal work – normally one to two days – and are usually done for specific Capability Units or Sectors. They are a great way to network with key members of the business and also learn more about our various industry specialisms and capabilities. A recent ‘cookie’ I completed involved researching our history and credentials into a key market, and thus allowed me to meet with various VPs across the business, undertake research on our internal knowledge sharing tool KM2.0, and even get in touch with our wider international network when looking to identify global capabilities.

 

A further way to maximise your bench time is through taking part in the CDC ‘coffee campaign’. Run through Internal Marketing, the campaign aims to connect CDCers with members of CUs and Sectors to broaden knowledge and awareness of what the various units do before we begin our careers. It can be a great way to get to know people and also network if looking for your next project!

 

Overall, being on the bench can be a great experience, particularly when you are first getting started in the business. You can meet your new colleagues, gain a greater insight into what life is like as a Consultant, and even start finding your way around the office. Make the best of your time, and days spent on the bench can be key in the development of consulting career.

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The trials and tribulations of Consulting

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This blog was written by Victoria Snell. Victoria is a current member of the CDC graduate scheme.

I joined the CDC in September 2010 and after completing my 2 week induction went straight onto a client role at a government department.  Unusually this, my first role, lasted nearly 7 months and whilst it was a great insight into the world of digital transformation and stakeholder management, I barely stepped foot in the shiny new Capgemini Holborn office. So when I was told I was rolling off this project I was actually looking forward to what many people at Capgemini fear, some time on “the bench”!

“The bench” is essentially a term to describe the time when you are not working on a billable client project.  Clearly doing billable work is important as it generates income for the company and counts towards your utilisation target; however internal work is valuable as it can help Capgemini to bring in more work or improve its internal and external tools and services. It can also help you to develop your skills and get yourself known in the company, essentially making yourself indispensible to project managers!

So my first major task on “the bench” was to work on a bid for a major UK airport operator.  There were two phases to work on, the first phase was to support in preparing the written tender, the second was to support in the preparation of a presentation should we make it past the first round.

In the first phase, my role was to provide insight and background research into the specific work we would be undertaking at the airport.  I was also asked to collate as many credentials and expertise examples as possible utilising the full global Capgemini network.  I was therefore having phone calls with senior members of the business in France and Spain with relevant experience, collating their CVs and credentials and presenting back to our bid team on who and which were best. I knew Capgemini was an international company, but it was great to discover that Capgemini really does function as a global unit and to personally get to interact with these people was fantastic!

Not only did it strike me what a fantastic global team of people Capgemini possess at their fingertips but also the external contacts Capgemini have.  Relationships with some very experienced people in the global airport industry meant that we were able to fly in a very experienced expert all the way from Australia to work with us on the bid delivery and I was personally able to work closely with him.  The opportunity to meet such impressive individuals and to form relationships with them is a great feature of working at Capgemini.

The evening before the bid was submitted we worked through the night to ensure timely delivery (sorry to say this is true although a very rare occurrence)!! All the hard work was worth it however as we made it through to the presentation phase along with 3 others so that we could pitch to win the work.

The second presentation phase began almost immediately after we had submitted the bid.  I worked on producing a hand out pack to accompany a highly visual poster called a “horseblanket” that would be used as a more effective PowerPoint pack.  The respect that even junior consultants get is brilliant as all my ideas and designs were listened to and I was able to plug any gaps that I noticed taking the load off the shoulders of the more senior consultants who needed to focus on designing their messages for the presentation. 

I also attended the rehearsals whereby we invited very senior members of Capgemini Consulting including our COO in to listen to the messages and to critique the presentation and throw potential questions at the bid team. It was fascinating to see how the very senior consultants who have not been working on the bid can attend a rehearsal and immediately get a view of how the structure should be and the key messages to push.  Having 3 very clear messages was reiterated as very important to winning.  Bid work is a fantastic opportunity to see the very best consultants in action and you can take a lot away from it.

Throughout the bid and pitching processes I learnt a great deal about airport operations and processes, stakeholder mobilisation and engagement and modelling techniques such as surface access modelling as well as the importance of the X factor.  To demonstrate how confident we were at winning the work we designed a differentiating commercial offering that shared the Airport’s risk.  We were therefore prepared to lose money if we did not deliver to expectation however if we delivered above expectation we asked for monetary recognition of that.  A successful project was number 1 priority for an Airport operator with high global visibility (more important than cost) and this offering took account of that.

Ten days after the pitch we found out that sadly we lost the work by a whisker!  It was so close it was a difficult decision for the airport operator to make.  Obviously after all the hard work we had put in, it was a very gutting result, but we had done our best and sometimes it comes down to the fact we don’t have the specific credential another firm possess.  If I could change the fact we lost, I would, but we couldn’t have done more and it really was an enjoyable and great learning experience.  Capgemini have intelligent, inspirational and motivational employees who are always happy to assist you in your learning and development, and it was this that made it all worth it. Losing work is a learning curve and merely part of the trials and tribulations of our business.

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Life in the fast lane – Bid work

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This Blog was written by Alex Hammond. Alex is a current member of the Graduate Consultant Development Community (CDC).

Having completed the rigorous training and induction at the start of our time on the CDC, our group were split. Some wanted to take the time to assimilate the wealth of information they had been exposed to in the preceding weeks, enjoy some slightly less manic time on the bench, and get settled into their shiny new job. Others were chomping at the bit to get stuck in. I was overwhelmingly of the latter - I could not wait to get started. Having been trained to within an inch of my life, I was now ready to unleash this knowledge on the world.

Unfortunately (or perhaps wisely, who’s to judge?!), I was not set loose on the CEO of a Global Retailer, or asked to redesign the NHS within my first week out of induction. What I was able to get involved with, however, is a project that epitomises the very nature of the work that we do - I joined a bid team.

Those that have experienced any sort of formal sales process, whether we’re talking a few pounds to a few million, will know it is an emotional rollercoaster. Our client was a major bank - nothing new there you might say - but this was (and still is) a bank undergoing a phenomenal amount of change across the entirety of its business. What this meant for us was a great opportunity for Capgemini to get involved in this change, and make things happen. Trouble is we had to convince the client to part with a fair chunk of change in order for us to do so.

A bid is a great thing to get involved with early in your consulting career. It encompasses everything that is good about consulting – fast-paced environment, a great team effort, quick decisions, a huge amount of variety, and the opportunity to work with some really big fish (or VP’s as they generally prefer to be called). This is to name but a few. Delivery is our day job, and of course most of your time will be working to actually design, deliver and implement what it is you have been selling. But when the opportunity comes up to bid and sell a project, it is worth getting involved.

The nature of the beast is momentum. The start of a bid tends to be fairly restrained - gathering research, reading documents, discussing solution options, playing with figures and costs, and ultimately developing our idea of what a good solution looks like. At the start, and particularly as a new joiner, you can get lulled into the sense that you have a chilled couple of weeks ahead of you... but how wrong you would be! This truly is the calm before the storm.

By week 2 things have really kicked off, and come the week of submission the pace of work is such that if you switch off for a minute you will have missed a complete change of strategy. Finally, as the final proposal is signed, sealed and delivered (well, emailed at least), you realise how much of a team effort it is to deliver something like a multi-million pound bid, and the sense of achievement you have when you find out you have won! (Disclaimer – unfortunately we don’t win all bids, but if you’re like me you can claim a 100% record and not worry about this too much). Can’t think of a better start to my career as a consultant...

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A Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment Sector project

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This Blog entry was written by Ursula Mulholland a current member of the CDC.

Working on a project with a sector such as the TME (Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment) team means you get to work with industry experts. Unlike a capability unit who concentrate on a particular type of project; sectors need to be able to apply a full range of capabilities within their given sector. Sometimes however, sector teams require an additional skill and so call on those outside of their immediate team with the necessary skills.

Although I joined with the CDC, I entered straight into the Operational Research team. I was brought onto a TME project to build a financial model using my modelling and data skills. The project was to review the price plans and packages of a telecommunications company in Belgium. I used data from over 2.5million customers to track how the changes customers made to their subscriptions over time and if these changes were beneficial to the company; taking into account predicted lifetimes of customers based on combinations of products and services.

Working on a project abroad does has additional factors to consider. Within that country or at times even just a company, there may be cultures which are different to your own, but are required to be understood in order to deliver a successful project. I was lucky in this project as I was working alongside two locally based Capgemini consultants who provided advice on the culture issues that were different from what we were used to in the UK.

I would highly recommend working with a sector team as there is so much to learn from them about their specific industries and also their working lifestyle. I really enjoyed this project despite long hours and a lot of travelling;, I consider working abroad a great opportunity to collaborate with global colleagues and explore other working cultures.

 

 

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You only understand the instructions after you’ve built the flat pack furniture

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Robert Ord provides a short but sweet introduction into what the ASE actually is and reflects on his time there as a graduate.... As I sit and write, I am surrounded by one of the most unique office environments you can imagine for a professional services firm. This is the land of the ASE where focus is on rapid and effective decision making by asking the right questions in the right way, of the right people with the right information to hand. To achieve this, the ASE space is creative, it is open and it is honest with itself and its participants. It is Capgemini at its philosophical level. The seven Capgemini values are very prominent here. The work we do is bold, it enables the freedom to express, and it wouldn't be possible if we didn't operate as a single team of peers, friends and mentors. The people are honest with their feelings and thoughts showcased by feedback discussions after each event; which is built on a solid foundation of trust. The ASE is modest of its models and ideas. And of course, the amount of passion and effort that goes into end-to-end event design would not be possible without fun!

However, the question still remains, what exactly is the ASE? Well for a starter, it means the Accelerated Solutions Environment. Breaking that down, it is a space that is flexibly used (environment) where we aim to reach a group decision or next step (solution) in a short period of time (accelerated). Inherently, making a pivotal group decision is complex and usually takes a number of weeks if not months. However, by using well developed models and processes, the ASE can literally accelerate this process into a few days.

For example, a fundamental process which underpins many ASE events (and decision making process for that matter) is 'Scan, Focus, Act'. This is not a foreign concept to most businesses. In fact, it is commonly used but not necessarily stressed or recognised as a process. The lines blur. In an ASE event, the flow-of-the-day and design may be created to reflect this simple model so that participants are taken on a logical journey through to action or a decision. As a team, we facilitate ("to make easy") the process by combining intelligent use of the environment, external stimulus, senses, group genius, emotion and many, many more.

There is not a definitive answer for 'what is the ASE and how does it work?' There are nuances and subtleties which are very much experiential in nature. Unless you have been here and lived an event (as a participant or facilitation the team) it remains a curious part of Capgemini's offering.

If you join the ASE team as a graduate, you can expect the unexpected. You will go on your own journey which will be unique to your personality. A journey which is incredibly difficult to articulate but immensely fun!

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How technical is Technology Transformation?

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Chris Southgate writes about his time  working with Capgemini's Technology Transformation unit:

Joining the CDC was full of promise and wonder, and much was said about the variety of roles and responsibilities that await eager new CDCers. During the initial induction we were given an introduction to each of the capability units within consulting to generate some interest in their areas. This was hugely beneficial in building on knowledge of the business but I still felt no more aware of what I wanted to do or where I wanted to work!  

I was then given the opportunity to join an exciting Technology Transformation (TT) project, which I jumped at. Given it has an image of deeply technical transformation projects and close links with Technology Services (another Capgemini offering), TT has somewhat surprised me. My first project has been a real mixed bag of workshop facilitation, presentations, conference calls, process mapping, change management, and lots of drawing new and innovative visuals for the client, all on top of a weekly commute to Edinburgh… And none of this has been based around computer coding or hardware installations!

My project has been to design a new engagement model for the IT department of a large utilities firm to help them deliver over the coming challenging investment period. Identifying solutions through process redesign, performance management and business engagement, all with a handful of political navigation has only been half the task. Managing the change process through planning, communication and transition activities is what has made this a really challenging and enjoyable experience, and what makes up the transformation element of Technology Transformation.  This first experience of Capgemini and TT has been incredibly varied and interesting, not at all as technical as some may think!

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From Thought to Action: Capgemini’s Strategic Research Group

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Richard Allinson writes about Capgemini’s ‘Strategic Research Group’

What with bankrupt states, expenses scandals, student protests and Wikileaks, the reintroduction of Capgemini’s Strategic Research Group into the lives of CDCers slipped by preoccupied journalists unnoticed in 2010. But despite the lack of headlines, the momentous event is worthy of note, not least because you may find yourself spending 3 months with the SRG should you join Capgemini. 

The Strategic Research Group is a service available to all business units in Capgemini UK that sits within the strategy capability of Capgemini Consulting. The group comprises both UK based and offshore analysts, who provide focussed pieces of research for internal and external clients. Typically, research projects will include market studies, company analyses, leading practice analyses and the development of ‘points of view’, all of which help shape knowledge of business issues and identify opportunities in the market for Capgemini and for our clients. From 2010 onwards, CDCers have an opportunity to experience the SRG first hand.

Traditionally, the SRG has something of a reputation; one that tells a tale of long hours, tight deadlines and challenging clients. Whilst I can’t deny that my loyalty cards from the Nando’s next door now entitle me to more free chickens than I can find homes for, there is a lot more to the SRG than long hours. A rotation in the group allows you to develop knowledge of a wide variety of industries, meet a great range of Capgemini consultants, and increase your skill set tremendously.  In my three months, I have completed research pieces touching on areas from public sector payment schemes to high tech manufacturing, facilitated countless meetings, managed other analysts on complex projects and even racked up some airmiles to discuss issues with a global sector team. The message, the SRG provides CDCers with great challenges, incredible responsibility, and a fantastic opportunity to develop.

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Privacy: The right to be left alone?

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