In my firm you can go to the top without getting an MBA so I don’t understand why so many people decide to get one. Also a lot of people come back to strategy consulting after getting an MBA
You can use the MBA as a career break but it’s more valuable to use if you don’t want to progress in your function or industry anymore. For example if you were trying to switch from consulting to tech or consulting to investment banking, an MBA makes it a piece of cake compared to lateraling. I don’t really know why anyone would come back to the same firm after they paid their own way through an mba program, that seems kind of cheap on the employer’s behalf and during the mba you would have the opportunity to go to MBB...
My firm operates in the same way, and with that they don’t offer to pay for the MBA if we decide to take one. I personally believe that an MBA is important for most business roles and many consulting firms, and only a few firms like yours and mine don’t require it. Basically not doing an MBA is putting all your eggs in one basket and saying that you’ll be at your firm (or mine) forever. Does your firm offer to pay for an MBA if you wanted to take one and go back afterwards?