Leadership culture at zeb: we have no more single decision-makers

Why do zeb’s consultants have a “career coach” rather than a traditional line manager? 

Birgit Mentzen: We have found that it is beneficial for all consultants when HR work is no longer in the responsibility of a single line manager. That’s why we replaced the traditional hierarchy with a network structure that connects each consultant with multiple managers. Moreover, all consultants are assigned a Career Development Counselor (CDC) whom they can turn to for individual support. Each CDC is an experienced colleague who serves as a mentor for one or more consultants.

How are mentors and mentees assigned to each other and how do they build their relationship? 

Birgit Mentzen: When someone new joins the company, we assign them their initial CDC. However, consultants may change their CDC at any time. New colleagues need more support than experienced ones. The latter might seek the advice of their CDC far more infrequently. Whether the mentoring takes place in the form of video calls or a weekend barbecue is up to each consultant and their CDC themselves – there are no rules. Different mentors and mentees have different understandings of roles and individual needs, so it’s usually no problem for our consultants to find a mentor that fits to them. 

And do the mentors decide whether their mentees get promoted? 

Birgit Mentzen: No, this is done by evaluators. Each consultant is assigned to a peer group and an unbiased evaluator assesses their performance. The evaluators of all consultants in a peer group then hold a peer evaluation conference, in which they discuss and compare their respective evaluations. The evaluators are responsible for obtaining information on their evaluee in advance by interviewing colleagues, project managers or other consultants and reading project evaluations. They then discuss their decision with the evaluee and their CDC, not least in order to identify development opportunities. For example, what could the next step in their career look like? To sum it up, consultants always have an exclusive coach and sparring partner at their side when it comes to personnel development issues.