The 2019 Top 25 Consultants: Haig R. Nalbantian

Haig R. Nalbantian

Mercer 

Excellence in Client Service

The best advice Haig Nalbantian ever received was from his original boss at Mercer, Dave Kieffer. “Understand and adapt to your client situation,” he said. In one of his earliest assignments, Nalbantian felt deflated when the client, the CHRO of a large hospital system, suggested he not attend an upcoming meeting with the CEO and CFO of his firm. While he was excited about the work the team had done, “he didn’t think I was the right messenger. He thought I was too ‘academic’ in the way I communicated our approach and learnings,” Nalbantian says. “This was early in my consulting career. I was still green and very much the academic in my style and thinking.”