External Evaluation of Consultancies 2025 Report Brief

 
Report brief
2025 Evaluation of the Strategy Consultancies of the ITCILO
1. Introduction and Background

 

  • In 2023-2024, the ITCILO significantly expanded its strategic consultancy portfolio to meet the evolving needs of ILO constituents and institutional clients.
  • Consultancy services are considered a strategic growth area for the Centre. The decision to take on consultancy projects is made based on alignment with the Centre's strategy and priorities.
  • The Centre has established a comprehensive Master Results Chain for its various service categories, including advisory services. According to this framework, advisory services progress from inputs, through outputs, out-takes, to outcomes and ultimately impact. This results chain is designed to systematically align consultancy work with the Centre's broader strategic objectives.
 

Consultancies are designed to complement the Centre's training services by offering tailored, high-impact institutional support in areas such as digital transformation, strategic planning, performance assessment, and employment governance.

2. Purpose and Scope

 

  • This evaluation examines the strategy consultancies delivered by the ITCILO to assess their relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability, in accordance with the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria and UNEG Norms for Evaluation.
  • The scope encompasses a representative sample of ten strategy consultancies implemented by the Centre between 2023 and early 2025, spanning Africa, the Americas, Asia, and interregional contexts.
  • The consultancies were delivered in a variety of institutional environments in response to specific needs, by providing tailored technical support aimed at enhancing service delivery and supporting strategic planning processes.
  • The consultancies were delivered to ILO constituents and other institutional clients as part of the Centre's portfolio diversification strategy outlined in the 2022-25 Strategic Plan. They engaged a diverse range of clients, including employers’ organizations, government ministries, ILO country offices, UN agencies, and specialized training institutions.
  • These assignments included institutional capacity assessments, advisory services on digital transformation strategies and digital capacity improvement, and performance reviews.

Types of strategy consultancies at the ITCILO

The evaluated strategy consultancies represent a diverse yet coherent portfolio of institutional capacity development interventions.

While tailored to distinct client needs and contexts, the consultancies can be broadly categorized into five types, each addressing specific dimensions of organizational transformation.

These categories reflect the Centre’s integrated approach to institutional strengthening, which combines strategic foresight, digital innovation, and participatory methodologies.

This category encompasses consultancies that support the development, operationalization, and institutionalization of digital tools and platforms. These interventions are typically designed to modernize service delivery, enhance user engagement, and improve internal processes. Activities include:

  • Assessing digital readiness and infrastructure
  • Designing and implementing learning management systems and websites
  • Training staff in digital content creation and platform administration
  • Developing digital solutions for member services, data collection, and reporting
  • Creating sustainability guidelines and user manuals

Consultancies in this category are aimed at enhancing strategic clarity and operational focus within organizations. They facilitate the development of evidence-based strategies and policy frameworks aligned with national priorities and international standards. These engagements typically involve:

  • Sectoral and institutional diagnostics
  • Stakeholder consultation and participatory planning
  • Development of multi-year strategies with implementation roadmaps
  • Integration of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
  • Alignment with decent work and sustainable development frameworks

This category includes comprehensive reviews of organizational structures, systems, and capacities. The objective is to identify operational bottlenecks and formulate actionable recommendations for institutional improvement. Typical components include:

  • Internal document reviews and governance analysis
  • Stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions
  • Assessment of service delivery, resource use, and performance metrics
  • Identification of capacity gaps and organizational development needs
  • Proposals for restructuring or systems strengthening

These consultancies focus on improving organizational representativeness and stakeholder engagement. They address the need for robust membership structures and dynamic partnership ecosystems by providing:

  • Analysis of membership profiles and engagement levels
  • Development of member recruitment and retention strategies
  • Design of member services and benefits
  • Mapping of partnerships and civil society networks
  • Training on stakeholder management and relationship-building

This category involves consultancies that support the operationalization of employment-related policies and the integration of decent work considerations into broader development strategies. These typically include:

  • Employment modelling and forecasting tools
  • Integration of employment outcomes into sectoral policy design
  • Technical assistance for monitoring employment impact
  • Capacity building for policy implementation and evaluation
  • Recommendations for enhancing employment-centred governance
 

The evaluation aims to assess the performance of strategy consultancies against established evaluation criteria, identify good practices and lessons learned to inform quality improvement and potential scaling, formulate recommendations to enhance the quality assurance framework and standardization the Centre consultancy services, and support strategic decision-making regarding the future programming of the Centre’s institutional capacity development offer.

While each consultancy is context-specific, they share a common foundation: the pursuit of sustainable institutional capacity development through tailored, co-created, and contextually relevant solutions. Many consultancies span multiple categories, illustrating the Centre’s integrated approach.

3. Methodology

 

The evaluation utilizes the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle aligned with the Guidelines for auditing management systems ISO 19011:2018. It uses a mixed-methods approach, integrating both quantitative and qualitative data. This approach allowed for the triangulation of findings from different sources, enhancing the validity and reliability of conclusions. Data collection was conducted through:

  • Desk research including a comprehensive review of relevant documentation.
  • Semi-structured interviews with a total of eleven stakeholders.
 

The evaluation tracked and qualified change along the service cycle using the following results chain model:

INPUTS -> OUTPUTS -> OUT-TAKES (INTERIM OUTCOMES) -> OUTCOMES -> IMPACT

Where:

  • Inputs describe the activities performed and resources used to generate results.
  • Outputs refer to the immediate results or deliverables.
  • Out-takes capture emerging change.
  • Outcomes express lasting change directly attributable to the outputs.
  • Impact relates to the long-term lasting change.
4. Findings
4.1 Relevance
Alignment with the ITCILO 2022-25 Strategic Plan
  • The consultancies demonstrated high responsiveness to constituent needs and alignment with ILO strategic priorities, including promotion of decent work, digital innovation, and capacity development. Tailored approaches and context-sensitive solutions were key strengths.
  • While consultancy services appear to be a strategic priority for ITCILO, there is a need to strengthen and standardize quality assurance processes. The organization has developed frameworks, but awareness and implementation vary significantly across programs.
Links to ILO mandate and strategic priorities

The delivered strategy consultancies are firmly anchored in the broader mandate and strategic priorities of the ILO. This alignment ensures that each intervention contributes meaningfully to the ILO’s overarching mission of promoting decent work and social justice, while reinforcing institutional capacities at the national and sectoral levels.

At the core of the ILO’s identity is its tripartite structure, which brings together governments, employers, and workers to jointly shape labour policies and programmes. The Centre’s strategy consultancies reflect this structure by directly serving the Organization’s core constituents.

  • The Centre’s 2022–2025 Strategy Framework emphasizes institutional capacity development as a critical enabler for the effective promotion and implementation of decent work policies.
  • Strategy consultancies delivered by the Centre respond directly to this priority by modernizing the operational frameworks of client institutions, improving governance models, and enhancing organizational effectiveness.
  • The Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work calls for a human-centered approach to technological change, an area where ITCILO's consultancy portfolio plays a key operational role.
  • These interventions not only address infrastructure gaps but also build institutional readiness to adopt digital learning systems, streamline service delivery, and align human resource development with the demands of a changing world of work.
  • The consultancies also advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly in areas directly linked to the ILO’s custodianship, such as SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 4 (Quality Education). Several activities explicitly identified their alignment with relevant SDGs and developed impact indicators accordingly.
  • Activities also contributed to SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) by reinforcing public institutions’ capacities to implement employment and skills strategies.
  • The consultancies are also aligned with the emerging agenda to advance the Global Coalition for Social Justice. By supporting clients in the development of inclusive strategies, performance improvement plans, and stakeholder engagement tools, the consultancies strengthen the institutions that are critical to delivering equitable, rights-based development outcomes.
  • These efforts are particularly evident in consultancies that addressed employment governance, organizational restructuring, and the integration of gender and social inclusion frameworks.
  • In several cases, alignment with the ILO mandate is built into the very fabric of the consultancy’s design. This practice helps ensure consistency with normative guidance and avoids duplication.
  • In projects implemented for non-ILO clients, direct references to ILO priorities were less explicitly stated in the documentation. Nevertheless, these consultancies addressed key themes such as inclusive development, stakeholder participation, and institutional effectiveness. These areas are highly consistent with ILO Enabling Outcome A (enhanced knowledge, innovation, cooperation, and communication to advance social justice) and Outcome B (improved leadership and governance), thereby contributing meaningfully to the ILO’s broader strategic orientation and the coherence of the UN system as a whole.
  • The consultancies operationalize the ILO’s commitment to knowledge leadership. By translating technical standards, policy insights, and global best practices into context-specific advisory services, the Centre contributes to institutional learning across a diverse range of clients.
  • The Centre’s strategy consultancies not only complement the Centre’s training activities but also serve as a vital mechanism for extending the ILO’s strategic influence.
  • By reinforcing institutions' ability to implement decent work policies, engage in social dialogue, and adapt to emerging challenges, the consultancies represent an important evolution in the Centre’s contribution to the ILO’s global mandate.
Response to constituents' needs

The consultancies demonstrate a strong degree of responsiveness to the needs of ILO constituents and other institutional clients. Across diverse contexts and institutional settings, the consultancies were found to align well with identified priorities, emerging challenges, and specific capacity development requirements.

  • The evaluation revealed that formal needs assessment processes were a common feature across the consultancy portfolio. Seven of the ten consultancies included structured diagnostic phases, typically involving document analysis, stakeholder consultations, and interviews to surface institutional priorities and capacity gaps.
  • The evaluation also found that the depth and rigor of needs assessments varied across consultancies. While some were informed by formal data collection and comprehensive analysis, others relied more on iterative dialogue or longstanding relationships.
  • There is strong evidence of alignment with the strategic priorities of client organizations. Document analysis confirmed that each consultancy proposal made explicit reference to relevant policy frameworks or institutional strategies.
  • Client interviews confirmed that the consultancies addressed priority institutional needs. All three client representatives interviewed provided positive feedback about the relevance of the services.
Customization of services

The customization is a defining strength of the Centre's strategy consultancy portfolio. Rather than applying standardized models, the Centre consistently tailors its methodologies, recommendations, and deliverables to reflect the unique characteristics of each client organization. This emphasis on customization enhances the Centre's ability to deliver relevant and implementable solutions, strengthening its position as a trusted partner in institutional capacity development.

  • The evaluated consultancies demonstrate strong contextual adaptation across diverse settings.
  • Client feedback reinforced the value of these contextual adaptations. One client described the process as "definitely collaborative" with the Centre providing "helpful questioning" and guidance.
  • The consultancies demonstrated methodological flexibility to accommodate client realities.
  • Staff interviews emphasized this flexibility. One staff member noted that "the whole consultancy nature was we co-design anything we're doing with them, because they're the people who are going to be using it forever". Another staff member described using "active listening" and "helpful questioning" to clarify the client's vision.
  • Many consultancies incorporated realistic solutions within client resource constraints.
  • Some resource constraints were acknowledged as challenges. One client mentioned that "the funding allocated for this project was not substantial. So, we had to work within those financial constraints".
  • Cultural and organizational sensitivity was evident in consultancy approaches.
  • One client noted the value of preparatory engagement: "I'm very happy with the entire project. It was extremely well-organized.” Another emphasized that the external facilitation created "a neutral environment for discussions about challenging issues".
  • Some limitations were identified. One staff member noted that more work was accomplished during face-to-face work than in online collaboration, highlighting the value of in-person engagement for building understanding.
 

"The team took the time to really understand our institutional history and challenges before proposing solutions, which made their recommendations much more relevant than previous external consultants we've worked with."

- Institutional Client

4.2 Coherence
Compatibility with the Centre and ILO activities
  • The evaluated consultancies show varying levels of integration with other ITCILO and ILO activities, with some demonstrating strong synergies while others operate with minimal connections to broader institutional initiatives yet in alignment with the Centre’s mandate and the ILO Policy or Enabling Outcomes.
  • Rather than integration for its own sake, the emphasis is on strategic coherence. The consultancies largely demonstrate relevance and complementarity in advancing the ILO’s objectives.
Synergies with other capacity development services
  • The evaluated consultancies demonstrate varied levels of synergy with other capacity development services, both within the Centre and with external partners.
  • Such synergies can significantly enhance project value, particularly where expertise from different programmes is intentionally combined.
  • Most consultancies continue to operate within individual programmes, with only three of the ten evaluated consultancies explicitly documenting cross-departmental collaboration in their methodology or implementation.
  • While spontaneous collaboration occasionally occurs through personal networks or overlapping mandates, systematic mechanisms to foster, track, and reward such collaboration remain underdeveloped.
  • Strengthening cross-programme integration, particularly through shared planning tools, joint consultancy design frameworks, and coordinated client engagement, represents a clear opportunity to enhance both efficiency and strategic coherence.
Alignment with United Nations system initiatives
  • Several consultancies contributed to specific SDGs, particularly SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
  • Many of the consultancies contain minimal information on alignment with broader UN system initiatives.
 

The evidence indicates that while strategy consultancies vary in how closely they link with other Centre activities, most are well aligned with the ILO mandate and address the needs of its core constituents. Rather than integration for its own sake, the emphasis is on strategic coherence, and the consultancies largely demonstrate relevance and complementarity in advancing the ILO’s objectives.

4.3 Effectiveness
Achievement of objectives
  • Most consultancies achieved their primary objectives in terms of delivering agreed outputs, with substantial contributions to ILO's strategic outcomes.
  • The consultancies supported a range of ILO priorities including "strong, representative and influential tripartite constituents and effective social dialogue," "full and productive employment for just transitions" (the most frequently addressed outcome), "sustainable enterprises for inclusive growth and decent work," "enhanced knowledge, innovation, cooperation and communication to advance social justice," and "improved leadership and governance."
  • While the quality and completeness of deliverables varied across projects, most demonstrated clear alignment with these strategic outcomes.
  • Objectives for the Centre strategy consultancies are typically co-developed with the client, though the degree of co-creation can vary depending on the consultancy type, institutional context, and pre-existing relationships. This collaborative approach ensures that objectives are not only aligned with institutional mandates and context but also increase the ownership and sustainability of the resulting outputs.
Capacity strengthening outcomes

The evaluated consultancies demonstrate varying degrees of capacity strengthening outcomes, with most showing evidence of enhanced individual and institutional capabilities, though the depth and documentation of these outcomes varies across projects.

Effectiveness across different beneficiary groups

The limited information on differential effectiveness across beneficiary groups suggests this may be an area for improvement in the Centre's consultancy approach. More systematic analysis of how outcomes vary across different stakeholder groups could enhance understanding of consultancy impacts and guide future interventions.

Success factors and challenges
  • Common success factors across the initiatives included strong stakeholder engagement, committed leadership within client institutions, and effective alignment with sectoral or market-specific needs. Participatory approaches that fostered ownership and validation among diverse actors were particularly impactful.
  • Projects also benefited from the availability and use of quality national data, standardised yet adaptable methodologies, and clarity of process design. Robust internal coordination, combined with timely technical support and capacity-building from external partners, further enabled successful implementation and sustained results.
  • Common challenges across the initiatives included political instability and institutional transitions in client countries, which often disrupted continuity and decision-making.
  • Technical and human capacity limitations within beneficiary institutions further constrained the implementation and sustainability of activities.
  • Several projects experienced significant data related issues, including fragmentation, lack of disaggregation, and insufficient systems for evidence-based planning.
  • Siloed institutional structures and overlapping mandates created coordination challenges, while weak mechanisms for follow-up and institutional learning reduced the long-term impact of workshops and advisory services.
  • Financial constraints and technological barriers, such as inadequate digital infrastructure or limited access to necessary tools hampered both client institutions and the Centre’s capacity to maintain consistent engagement and support.
 

For the MozTrabalha project in Mozambique, notable achievements included "the integration of employment-focused provisions into Mozambique's new Forestry Regulation, which was developed through a tripartite process with worker and employer inputs, and now includes explicit references to occupational safety and decent work" and the development of a "Public Expenditure Review on Employment (ERPE) and Pro-Employment Budgeting Toolkit".

4.4 Effectiveness of Management Arrangements
Roles and responsibilities

The evidence suggests that roles and responsibilities are generally well-defined across the consultancies, though the level of detail and formality varies.

Implementation arrangements
  • The implementation arrangements are generally well-structured across the consultancies, with phased approaches, clear methodologies, and regular client engagement.
  • The consultancies are showing a range of approaches adapted to specific consultancy needs and contexts.
Cross-programme coordination
  • The cross-programme coordination within the Centre varies significantly across consultancies, with some showing effective collaboration while others operate primarily within the individual programmes.
  • For most consultancies, there is limited evidence of systematic cross-programme coordination within the Centre. Staff interviews generally indicated limited collaboration.
 

"The consultancy built on KGRTC's involvement in ICD initiatives and the Centre eLearning design labs, maintaining continuity with past interventions."

- ITCILO Team

4.5 Efficiency
Resource allocation
  • Interviewees report that the Centre's resource allocation practices for strategy consultancies are generally pragmatic and responsive to project complexity. 
  • While detailed budget data and efficiency metrics are inconsistently documented across projects, the evaluation identified emerging patterns and several examples of both effective allocation and operational challenges.
  • Resource allocation practices appear to be well-adapted to the size, scope, and structure of each consultancy.
  • Interviewees emphasized the flexibility of the Centre's internal systems which allows for timely contracting and budget management.
  • Not all initiatives achieved optimal financial execution. In some cases, reallocation of budgets to other expenditure categories was noticed.
  • Overall, resource allocation strategies were tailored to the specific needs and contexts of each project, rather than adhering to a standardized funding formula.
  • Revenues generally covered or exceeded costs, with financial margins adjusted based on client characteristics and the type of services provided. This reflects a flexible and demand-responsive financial model where resources follow complexity allowing the Centre to maintain financial sustainability while delivering tailored advisory services.
Resource utilization
  • The documentation provides limited information on actual resource utilization during implementation of the consultancies. While planning documents outline intended resource allocation across projects, the evaluation found inconsistent tracking of how these resources were ultimately deployed.
  • Staff interviews revealed diverse approaches to resource management demonstrating how the Centre's flexible administrative framework enables adaptation to project complexity.
Value for investment
  • Available evidence suggests that many consultancies delivered strong value for investment based on the quality of deliverables, efficiency of execution, and positive client feedback.
  • Despite these positive indications, staff interviews also revealed concerns about the underlying financial model for consultancies. Imbalance between time investment and financial return may reflect the  labour-intensive nature of consultancies, especially when accompanied by extensive co-design and follow-up.
  • Although many consultancies appear to deliver strong value in terms of outputs and client satisfaction, the current financing structure may require review to ensure sustainability as the portfolio expands.
Administrative processes
  • The limited information on administrative processes suggests this may be an area that receives less attention in consultancy documentation and evaluation.
  • The available evidence indicates generally functional administrative processes with some challenges in timely approvals, reporting, and accessing expertise.
Potential efficiency measures

The available evidence indicates opportunities for standardisation, better knowledge sharing, improved digital tools, and more effective in-person collaboration.

 

The evidence suggests generally efficient resource utilization across the consultancies, with efforts to maximize value through strategic use of the Centre capabilities and appropriate tools. However, the limited documentation of actual resource utilization compared to plans represents a gap in assessing efficiency comprehensively.

4.6 Sustainability
Conditions for sustainability
  • Several institutional and contextual conditions emerged as critical for the long-term sustainability of strategy consultancies. While most consultancies delivered high-quality outputs and generated momentum for reform, some important gaps remain, either because they were beyond the scope of the consultancy or due to limited follow-up capacity on the client side.
  • The documentation of these risks and gaps was uneven across consultancies. While some final reports included structured risk assessments or recommendations for post-project action, others lacked detail on unresolved issues or institutional responsibilities. This variability underscores the need for more systematic approaches to exit strategies, sustainability planning, and client follow-up.
Methodological integration, replication, and scale-up

Many consultancies incorporated mechanisms for replication and scale-up, particularly where methodologies were standardized and designed for broader application.

 

These findings underscore the importance of embedding sustainability planning, follow-up mechanisms, and risk mitigation strategies into the design and closure phases of consultancies, an area where future guidance, templates, and institutional support could substantially enhance long-term impact.

4.7 Impact
Contribution to long-term change
  • Several of the strategy consultancies contributed to broader policy change, institutional strengthening, and improvements in service delivery.
  • The lasting impact of these consultancies was most evident where they were embedded into national policy frameworks, underpinned by strong institutional ownership and supported by scalable tools and processes.
  • Not all consultancies reached this level of durability. Some faced limitations due to insufficient follow-up, political volatility, or constrained resources, highlighting the need for more systematic sustainability planning across the portfolio.
Benefits reported by stakeholders
  • Strategy consultancies generally receive positive feedback from stakeholders, though clients identified a few areas for improvement at the institutional level, including stronger coordination with ILO country offices, clearer communication of service offerings beyond training, and more robust documentation of outputs.
  • Consultancy benefits were widely reported across projects, with client testimonials highlighting satisfaction with the Centre’s technical support, adaptability, and relevance of outputs.
  • Institutional capacity improvements were most clearly evidenced in projects with measurable outcomes.
Pathways to long-term impact
  • Impact pathways were strongest where consultancy outputs were systematically integrated into organizational operations.
  • Client ownership emerged as a critical driver, particularly in cases where institutions independently expanded or adapted the Centre-developed tools.
  • Despite notable successes in technical delivery and stakeholder engagement, institutional integration of consultancy outputs was uneven across the portfolio. While some projects saw clear adoption of tools, frameworks, and strategies within client institutions, others remained at the planning or pilot stage, hindered by structural constraints or a lack of follow-through mechanisms.
  • Several patterns demonstrate how institutional readiness, coordination mechanisms, and external environments significantly influence sustainability outcomes regardless of technical quality. Many barriers were predictable, highlighting the need for more robust implementation planning and risk assessment during design phases.
  • the variability in integration reflects a deeper need for institutional readiness assessments, context-sensitive delivery strategies, and more deliberate planning for post-project sustainability. Future consultancies should include structured approaches to stakeholder capacity, political economy analysis, and integration risk, ensuring that outputs not only respond to demand but are also deliverable and maintainable within the institutional realities of the client.
 

Conclusions

 

  • The evaluation confirms that the Centre's strategic diversification into consultancies represents a proactive response to emerging capacity development needs.
  • While demonstrating flexibility and methodological depth, the the Centre needs to address systemic gaps in strategic framework integration and follow-up mechanisms.
  • Tools and mechanisms meant to support the quality assurance of the Centre’s consultancy services were available but inconsistently applied or insufficiently developed, weakening the ability to consistently demonstrate their contribution.
  • This structural gap that is was particularly evident in project proposals and final reports, limits the Centre’s ability to fully evidence the strategic value of consultancies, even where relevant connections exist in practice.
  • With stronger cross-programme collaboration and standardized practices, successful models could be effectively scaled and replicated.
  • The evaluation found that institutional integration of consultancy outputs was uneven. While some consultancies were embedded into national systems and reinforced by strong ownership, others remained at the planning or pilot stage, constrained by limited follow-up, resource gaps, or organizational silos. These barriers were often predictable but not sufficiently addressed in project design, highlighting the need for clearer sustainability strategies and institutional readiness assessments.
5. Recommendations
Short-Term
  • The absence of consistent and explicit references to strategic objectives in consultancy proposals and reports limits the Centre’s ability to fully demonstrate and communicate its institutional contribution. To address this, the Centre should make the existing alignment mechanisms more visible and verifiable during the consultancy approval process.
  • Rather than introducing new administrative requirements, the Centre should reinforce strategic alignment as a formal check within the existing approval workflow. Project managers should briefly articulate how each proposed consultancy advances one or more Strategic Plan objectives, building on the mandatory outcome coding in MAP. Management should verify and document this alignment as part of the final approval step.
  • The Centre should create a digital repository for consultancy resources that enables systematic documentation and cross-program access. This repository should include technical proposals, methodological approaches, assessment tools, and final reports from completed consultancies. It should be searchable by theme, client type, and geographical region to facilitate retrieval.
  • By curating and standardizing institutional knowledge in this way, the Centre will improve knowledge continuity across teams, reinforce quality assurance practices, and promote internal learning across programmes.

The Centre should implement a standard post-consultancy review process that includes a facilitated reflection session with the project team and documentation of key insights. This process should address both technical content and project management aspects, with particular attention to adaptations made during implementation. These sessions would create valuable opportunities for identifying improvements to consultancy methodologies and documenting innovative approaches.

Dedicated time and resources for these reflections should be incorporated into project planning and budgeting from the outset. The insights generated should be systematically documented and shared through the proposed knowledge repository, creating a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement.

Medium-Term
  • Even though quality assessment tools are available, findings show there's a significant gap between awareness and implementation, which varies across programs, with many staff relying on their own methods rather than institutional systems.
  • The Centre should build upon its established framework by developing consultancy specific annexes or supplements that provide practical guidance tailored to the distinctive needs of strategy consultancies. This extension should include more detailed quality standards for different consultancy types.
  • This framework extension should be developed through a consultative process involving experienced staff from different programs, drawing on proven approaches from successful consultancies.
  • The Centre should establish formal mechanisms to facilitate cross-programme collaboration for consultancies requiring diverse expertise.
  • These mechanisms should include designated collaboration points in the consultancy lifecycle, protocols for engaging expertise from different programs, and financial arrangements that equitably distribute both contributions and benefits.

The Centre should develop a more systematic approach to integrating consultancy and training services by:

  1. Creating pathways where consultancy insights inform training content.
  2. Designing consultancies with explicit connections to relevant training offerings.
  3. Establishing feedback loops where training participants identify institutional needs that could be addressed through consultancy services
Long-Term

The Centre should develop a comprehensive financing model for consultancies that balances financial sustainability with strategic importance. This model should:

  1. Establish differentiated recovery expectations for consultancy services compared to training activities, recognizing their distinct cost structures and revenue potential.
  2. Create mechanisms for cross-subsidization where appropriate, enabling strategically important consultancies with lower recovery rates to be balanced by higher-recovery activities.
  3. Develop clear criteria for assessing the strategic value of consultancies beyond direct revenue, including relationship building, innovation potential, and contribution to institutional learning.

The model should be developed by the Centre's Financial Services in close collaboration with program managers, with guidance from the Director of Training to ensure alignment with institutional priorities.

  • To strengthen the Centre's understanding of consultancy effectiveness, the Centre should develop an integrated approach to impact assessment that establishes standard indicators for different consultancy types while allowing for customization to specific contexts.
  • Organize annual peer learning exchanges where clients share implementation experiences and quantifiable results, serving as both evaluation mechanisms and knowledge-sharing opportunities.

The Centre should establish structured mechanisms for providing ongoing, light-touch support to consultancy clients during implementation of recommendations. These follow-up mechanisms should be explicitly incorporated into consultancy designs and budgets from the outset.

This support could include:

  1. Periodic virtual check-ins at key implementation milestones.
  2. Access to responsive technical guidance when clients encounter implementation challenges.
  3. Facilitation of peer learning between similar institutions implementing comparable changes.

By formalizing this follow-up support, the Centre can enhance the sustainability of consultancy impacts while strengthening relationships with institutional clients. This approach would also generate valuable feedback on recommendation implementation that could inform future consultancy designs.