"The public servant typically works on projects with other clients and not back with their government," he said of the firm's previous experience with the model.

"They have often worked on projects before but often in government there are usually several projects running at once and it's alongside their day job, whereas in consulting, the project is your day job. And they're working with different people with different skill sets; they might be working in a new industry for them.

"So, there's lots of new experiences that they get from that which allows them to gain new skills, such as client service, which is our business."

He added that the private sector can also learn from public sector work practices.

"Our private sector clients [are] being more explicit about things that government do quite well: stakeholder management, stakeholder engagement and having a sense of purpose and involvement in the community."

Manage expectations

Mr Roediger, who began his role as head of BCG in Australia and New Zealand at the start of the month, said any concerns about conflicts can be managed with clear rules.

"Like any secondment arrangement, there have to be clear expectations, there has to be a framework for how it is set up. Whoever the person is, there's probably some things that they shouldn't work on. So you have to decide all that and do that upfront," he said.


The 46-year-old married father-of-three has stepped down from his previous role as the head of the firm's Asia Pacific Public Sector practice to take on the managing partner role.

He said he wanted to grow the firm's artificial intelligence and data analysis business, Gamma, and transformation support business, Platinion.

Platinion, which features experts such as agile coaches, is part of the trend of consulting firms moving into delivery and training work as private and public sector organisations look to digitally transform their operations on a continual basis.

Agile coaching and more

"[Platinion] has different capabilities and skill sets for helping businesses and workforces transform the way they work for the digital age. One example is working in more agile ways, much like a software company. It's much more like a coaching and development role, which is unusual historically for a traditional management consulting firm," Mr Roediger, said.

BCG has advised ANZ bank on its shift towards using the agile method of working.

Mr Roediger said he expects Gamma and Platinion to grow to 50 to 75 staff by next year, up from the current 25.

The firm has about 40 partners and 350 consultants across Australia and New Zealand and booked $321 million in revenue across its main consulting business and its digital ventures arm in 2017.


Mr Roediger was a Rhodes Scholar and lawyer at Minter Ellison before joining BCG in 2000.

"My career at BCG has been roughly 50 per cent working with private sector clients, largely in my early days at the firm, and the other half of the time working with pubic sector clients," he said.

He succeeds former managing partner Andrew Clark, who is on secondment to NAB until 2020 as a strategic adviser on the bank's transformation.

Email the reporter at edmundtadros@afr.com.au