The corporate culture is typically cutthroat in professional services firms, he says. And the working lives of lawyers, accountants, architects and engineers have long been dictated by the pressure to accumulate billable hours and, eventually, become partners.

But some professional services firms are now starting to modify this "eat-what-you-kill" model - which rewards individuals strictly for the business they bring in.

The change, in part, is to be more appealing to the next generation of professionals who are turned off by the old rules, where everything is measured by billable hours and employees either move up or out, says Mr. Moore, a Vancouver-based partner with Grant Thornton LLP, a national firm of chartered accountants and management consultants, and a lead researcher of a new study of professional services firms.

Mr. Moore says 82 per cent of survey participants flagged recruitment as a problem for their firms, and more than half assessed the partnership model as outmoded and unattractive to younger pros.

In an effort to attract new talent, an increasing number of firms are offering flexible work arrangements, the opportunity to perform pro bono work, and professional development programs. They are also rethinking reward and compensation strategies.

For instance, the law firm Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP rewards its lawyers for more than the number of fee-generating hours they put in. Blakes says it is was one of the first major law firms to adopt a formal policy recognizing pro bono and other public-service work as a professional responsibility. This definitely helps the firm's recruitment efforts, the firm says.

The Grant Thornton report says that kind of thinking will be more and more required.

"Typically, human resources and compensation strategies are optimized to quantify individual effort over time - a risky proposition in a tight labour market," the Grant Thornton report says.

"They endorse a me-first attitude and a sharp-elbowed, competitive culture that are ill-suited to the team-based approach required (and desired) to address growing client complexity and attract young talent whose values are changing."

Not every professional aspires to attain partnership status, and firms have only recently started to recognize that even those who do not move up the ranks can be talented and valuable contributors, Mr. Moore says.

"They may not be interested in chasing after a partnership, as long as they are paid well and stimulated by their work."

Accounting firms were not included in the survey but Mr. Moore says they, too, are changing.

At Grant Thornton, for example, billable hours and bringing new business into the firm are still critically important. But professionals are also recognized and rewarded for leadership skills, teamwork and mentoring others.

"In the past ... people were recognized for their own individual contributions. But with the needs of our clients becoming more complex, we use a team-based approach," Mr. Moore says. "You can't be all things to your clients any more. You need to have a team behind you to properly service your clients."

Consolidation is another business reality forcing professional services firms to rethink the way they operate. In the past, they grew by hiring more professionals and reeling in more clients, Mr. Moore says.

Now, "when different companies consolidate, or come under foreign control, it means a smaller pool of existing or potential clients for these firms."

All this will mean big changes to the way these firms look and operate, Mr. Moore says.

"The iconic corner office for senior partners in the high-powered world of professional services will be vacated as a new generation of talent ushers in a 'firm first' approach to replace the current 'me-first' approach in the sector," Mr. Moore says.

The professional services sector depends on the availability of "highly-qualified, high contributing professionals" - and this will require more sophisticated approaches to compensation and talent management.

"Some partners in firms ask, 'When will the next generation be like me?' The answer is 'never.'

"So get used to it, and make the changes you need to make," Mr. Moore says.

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Half of law firm respondents (53 per cent) agree that poaching of professional staff is a serious issue in their industry. This figure rises to 75 per cent for architectural and engineering firms.

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Factors that used to motivate people, such as money and prestige, are no longer as powerful. The younger generation doesn't necessarily want the same things, and firms need to take a better look at how they are going to retain and manage people -- or face the consequences.

Grant Thornton's Cathy MacDonald, in the report

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The career culture of some firms is still, 'either you become a partner in a certain period of time, or you leave the firm.' With that mindset, you are going to lose some of your best young talent, who are not motivated by the prospect of becoming a partner.