How can a firm whose employees don't have a company office to work from be one of the top-rated consulting firms in terms of its culture?
The leadership at Point B, a consultancy with few offices but nearly 400 consultants on staff, has worked hard to unite employees in creative ways. Point B CEO Tim Jenkins says the conversation about culture happened simultaneously as the firm was deciding at launch to limit real estate.
"The tradeoff of not having office space was how do you build a culture when people are scattered around and there's not any central gathering place to come on a Friday afternoon and chat around the watercooler? So we consciously invested in a lot of culture-building activities, which kind of took on a life of their own," Jenkins says.
These events range from what he calls "monthly watering holes" to "Top of the Morning" focus groups to three-day-long summer getaways. "Essentially, we're just looking for excuses to get people together," Jenkins says.
And while the events are important, the unity of purpose the Point B staff feels is more important when it comes to establishing a culture at the firm, Jenkins says. "Culture isn't about the events, even though the events obviously help to build the culture. Really the culture at Point B extends from the fact that we have this shared set of values and culture tenets that we live by. I think other firms might invest in the events, but if you don't have the shared core, all it is is a social affair. And for us, it's about building something a lot deeper than that."
So clearly Point B employees are feeling tied to each other, but according to the data, consultants are feeling tied to firm leadership (4.71 out of a possible 5.00) as well. And that's not a coincidence, Jenkins says. "Our leaders have to embody our culture and our values; if you don't, you can't be a leader," Jenkins explains.
However, leadership is something a bit enigmatic at the company. "It's not a traditional hierarchy. It's much more—and it sounds very trendy—it's really kind of a network," Jenkins says. "Leaders are hubs in the network; their purpose is to connect people and to be clearinghouses for information. There isn't any kind of hierarchy; there is nothing that says the client account manager in Denver is any higher ranked or lower ranked than the recruiting director in Seattle. They just play different leadership roles at the firm."
Jenkins also emphasized the fluid nature of roles at Point B, as consultants are able to choose what kind of roles they want to play at the company, and leadership positions are created on an as-needed basis. "By and large, people see each other as peers and if you were to walk into a Point B meeting, it would be hard for you to pick out who the leaders were."
Jenkins also prides himself and the firm on the quality of its communication among all consultants. "That's why we probably scored well is that people feel in touch with the leadership. They feel like their leaders are honest and open and as transparent as at all possible and that we're human. We make mistakes and learn from them." —Jacqueline Durett
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