Fiorella joined Altesia four years ago. Four years, around ten assignments, several roles, a stint mentoring another consultant on one assignment, and above all: a direct contribution to developing a new Altesia offering dedicated to the non-profit sector. Her story illustrates what makes Altesia unique: a culture where management listens to its consultants, to their opinions and ideas, including to co-build and grow the company.
Solid foundations, built assignment after assignment
Fiorella began her consulting career at Altesia within a large group, supporting the chief accountant.
“It was a great first assignment. It allowed me to really get back to the fundamentals of accounting, and that’s essential for what comes next — especially when you then move on to assignments in SMEs. It also made me realise how important emotional intelligence is in the consulting profession.”
A remark that may come as a surprise, but one Fiorella is happy to explain:
“It may seem counter-intuitive, but working in an SME is more complex than in a large group. You have to master everything: accounting, but also budgets, reporting, the teams… In a large group, you contribute to a few lines of the budget, and that’s it. In an SME, you have a complete view. That’s what I love.”
It is this versatility — solid accounting, a broad business vision — that, two years later, would allow her to take on an assignment of a completely different scale.
An assignment for a non-profit, and the discovery of new realities
Two years ago, Altesia offered Fiorella a part-time assignment within a non-profit (ASBL) active in the disability sector. The role: to replace the finance manager. The context: an ERP struggling to produce the figures, poorly tracked subsidies. Concrete work, numbers, processes to rebuild.
But on arrival, Fiorella discovered an assignment quite different from what had been planned.
“I realised on site that the assignment was far broader than expected: I have to manage a whole finance, administrative and HR team, and for me it’s the first time! At just 28, I have to manage people with much more experience than me.”
A challenge she takes on by leaning on the Altesia team.
“I was able to count on the partners and on Altesia’s HR to talk it through. It helped me a lot. It’s precious to know there’s always someone behind you.”
Two years later, she is still on assignment within the same non-profit. A particularly long assignment in the consulting world, but one Fiorella values in this case:
“It’s clear that I love variety, and that’s why I’m with a consulting firm like Altesia. But for this non-profit, there is so much work and so many improvements to put in place that I want to keep seeing the changes take shape.”
Innovating in non-profit financial management
In the non-profit sector, AVIQ regularly carries out audits to check how subsidies are used. A step that is often dreaded, because it means precisely tracing financial flows that few organisations are used to tracking at this level of detail.
Rather than simply enduring it, Fiorella anticipates. She develops a structured approach, tailored to the specific constraints of these organisations.
“When the AVIQ auditor saw it, he said to me: ‘Did you do this yourself? You can tell an outside hand has been at work here, it makes my job so much easier!’”
The auditor mentions it to the director, who then invites Fiorella to present her tool at a meeting bringing together the thirty or so heads of disability-sector non-profits in the region.
As the presentation ends, several directors come to see her.
“Some came up to me to ask questions about my work. I was able to talk about Altesia, and explain that we had plenty of financial consultant profiles.”
From that meeting came a new assignment, with another non-profit. But above all, something bigger was set in motion.
From field insight to an Altesia offering
Back at Altesia, Fiorella mentions it to Cédric Van Themsche, partner. The conversation is quick, natural.
“That’s what’s great about Altesia. We’re close to everyone, including the partners. So we don’t need to schedule a formal meeting to discuss this kind of thing. Communication is fluid, easy and direct.”
Cédric validates the idea: it deserves to become an offering dedicated to the non-profit sector. Dimitri, Business Developer at Altesia, takes over. He contacts other non-profits in the sector and structures the pitch to propose the approach to other organisations.
A three-stage dynamic that nicely sums up how Altesia works: a consultant who spots a need in the field, partners who listen and validate, a Business Developer who turns the insight into a commercial offering.
“What makes this possible at Altesia is this fluidity of information and discussion. We’re all more or less on the same wavelength. I’m happy to contribute to this project. Everyone is in their zone of value.”
From field expert to professional in charge
Today, it’s another consultant who is on assignment with the second non-profit. Fiorella has become professional in charge: she coaches the consultant who has taken over and shares the expertise she has built up in the sector.
“I enjoy being a mentor on this kind of assignment. I know the subject, I know what we’re talking about. Whereas someone arriving with no context wouldn’t understand everything straight away, because this sector is a particular one. It’s hugely rewarding to be able to pass on the expertise I’ve been able to build.”
What she would tell future consultants
When she welcomes new consultants in one-to-ones, Fiorella always comes back to the same points.
“Altesia’s big strength is consulting itself: you see a variety of things, you’re always learning on your assignments. Even if you think ‘gosh, I’ve never done this, it might go wrong’, no — actually, the assignments are there for you to bring your knowledge, but also to gain new knowledge. And the Partners and colleagues are always there to support you proactively on the assignment, with a formalised process, but also with informal points of contact at the office, so you’re never left alone on an assignment.”
And then there’s the other, more human dimension.
“The atmosphere, everyone’s personality that clicks every time. If there’s an issue on an assignment, you mustn’t be afraid, you mustn’t wait three months before turning to a colleague or a partner. The dialogue is easy, every issue gets resolved quickly.”
She adds, with a smile, that she makes a point of helping the newest joiners settle in:
“When I arrived, there were seven of us. It was easy to get to know everyone. Today, we’re more than fifty. It can’t be easy to arrive in that context. So I always tell the new ones: send me a Teams message, get in touch, whatever the question! I’ll always be happy to help.”
