PA breaks with perfection culture to lead a new generation
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Tanja Juul Christiansen was interviewed by Børsen about talent retention, changing work culture, and flexibility in consulting, client expectations, and the shift away from perfectionism in high-performance environments.
In the interview our PA expert in people and change, Tanja Juul Christiansen, reflected on how the consulting industry is moving away from a culture where long hours once defined success.
She describes how norms have shifted significantly
“It was cool to be busy, it was cool to go to bed late at night. And it was cool to sit and work at weekends. Today, very few young people think it’s appealing to sit and work after 5pm just for the sake of it.”
According to her, ambition has not disappeared, but priorities have changed:
Even in high-performance environments like ours, employees are starting to value having a life outside work. And if you cannot accommodate that, you will lose them.”
Rather than eliminating busy periods, the focus has shifted to managing them more deliberately:
“Of course there are times where you are asked to work late if the project requires it. But you cannot and should not do that all the time. That is why we also focus on helping consultants return to normal working hours after peak periods.”
Flexibility at PA Consulting is built around adjusting when work happens, not reducing it:
The point is not to reduce the work, but to move it. It is about making it clear that we genuinely do not care if you leave early some days to be with your family and then log on in the evening or Sunday afternoon instead.”
At the same time, traditional performance expectations still underpin the model, including billable hours.
On visibility, she explains that the definition has evolved:
“Visibility measured by physical presence in the office still matters, but you can achieve visibility in other ways.”
She warns against overvaluing physical presence:
“Of course if a consultant disappears completely over a longer period it becomes a problem, but you have to be careful not to let physical visibility dominate too much. After all, we make a living by being out with clients.”
A key challenge remains client expectations, especially in more traditional environments:
When starting a new project, our advice is usually that you need to be very present with the client and put in many hours until you have built trust. Once the client has seen the value you create, you can gradually introduce more flexibility.”
Performance ultimately creates freedom:
“When you deliver, most clients actually accept almost anything. My own experience is that some of those who perform best with us are also those who are very good at managing their time.”
Another central theme is the downside of perfectionism among younger consultants:
“They simply do not know what 80 percent looks like.”
This has both wellbeing and commercial implications, as excessive time spent refining deliverables does not always create additional value.
To counter this, PA Consulting places strong emphasis on feedback:
“The people we bring in typically want to move fast and they ask for feedback. They receive it through a wide range of channels: their line manager, their project manager, the responsible partner and not least colleagues at the same level. Many also have formal or informal mentors they rely on.”
A major shift is needed in leadership itself. Partners must adapt their leadership style to a new generation:
“We have to lead in a way we were never led ourselves.”
She acknowledges how easy it is to fall back into old habits:
“If you are under pressure yourself, you sometimes revert to old behaviours. That is why we also need to modify ourselves, and sometimes we simply need to be able to apologise. That was very rare when I was young in the industry.””
Despite all changes, the core business model remains unchanged:
“We ultimately make a living by selling our expertise to clients. That also means that even though we take a holistic view of how each individual thrives and develops, it never changes the core priority: to deliver projects that create value and can, of course, be billed to clients.”
She concludes with a clear reminder of the commercial reality:
“That is the world we operate in. Sometimes people forget that. Ultimately, we are a business that lives off selling projects.”
Read the article in Danish in Børsen.
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