Can someone tell me how consultancies can actually justify working their consultants so hard, taking every pound of flesh they possibly can when the exact opposite of making sure that there is a healthy balance in their consultants lives is far more conducive to productivity?Is it a question of these consultancies biting off more than they can chew by making outrageous promises to their clients and giving their employees stick when the work load becomes too much and their employees start losing the plot on the job? I'm the MD of a small consultancy and from my experience, the more unrealistic promises you make to clients, the worse your employee productivity.Perhaps it's time that clients take business away from consultancies that abuse their employees.

I appreciate what you say, but there are people like myself out there which want to progress their careers in consultancy and are prepared to work the long hours to ensure they can learn. Can you let me know what companies have the high workloads so I can contact them to discuss the opportunity of developing my career in consultancy.

Everyone has to make decisions according to their own value systems, but for me, buying into the long hours/no choice cliche is more like neo-slavery...willingly accepted.....I ask myself: Can a human honestly work productively for such long periods of time.....????

... all of them! ... it's just that some are more open about it than others :-)

The answer is no. A human being cannot work productively for such long periods of time. Maybe for a year or so, but soon afterwards, the stress begins to lead to certain maladaptive behaviours in people that unfortunately organisations shrug off.

MD.....I like you!A RAY OF SANITY!