Capco is the lone newcomer to the Best Firms to Work For List in 2010, and what a story it is. About a year ago, the global financial services firm set out on a major North American expansion plan with several ex-BearingPoint executives calling the shots. So far, the results have been impressive, to say the least. Fueled by a massive North American build up, the firm has doubled the size of its business over just the last six months by doing transformational work for financial services clients. It now employs 475 consultants in North America and 1,000 globally.
"Capco could be a $400 million global business in 2011, and will end next year with approximately 1,500 global billable professionals," says Tom McKelvey, global chief operating officer and leader of the North American practice. "We are big enough to matter, but small enough to care," he says. "Our client list will easily double by the end of 2010. And if you look at 2011, it will also increase again by a handsome amount."
The firm's debut on the Best Firms to Work For list in the midst of such a radical expansion in North America is even more impressive. Generally, when a firm adds significant staff in short time, its survey scores suffer. "This award is a formal endorsement of what we're doing and more importantly how we're doing it," McKelvey says. "It shows that the uniqueness of our Capco culture is very important to our employees. And it shows our clients that what we have promised, meaning great depth and content, and the best people, is endorsed."
For sure, leadership is key when a firm is growing as rapidly as Capco is right now. Employees gave the firm's leaders high marks on the survey. One thing the leadership has implemented is something they call Voice of the Employee, a committee made up of all levels of the organization that's encouraged to speak its mind. "We receive very direct feedback on things that we can change as an organization to be more effective and to be more employee friendly," McKelvey says. "This program has been very favorably received. Employees can see leadership enacting very direct results of their suggestions."
But in the end, Capco's success may be as much about the financial success and growth the firm is currently enjoying as it is about anything else. "People like to be a part of winning team, and we're winning in a big way," McKelvey says. "Although the economy is tumultuous, consultants feel pride in being at the forefront of what's happening in the world. The best times in consulting and the best relationships are built in the most tumultuous times. So, actually, these are good times."
Q&A with Tom Mckelvey
On the survey, Capco excelled in the areas of The Job and Culture. We asked Tom McKelvey, Capco's global chief operating officer, why he thought the firm scored so high in these areas.
The Job
It is a function of where we're positioned competitively in the marketplace. If you look at our chief competitors, they fall into several categories—strategy firms, Big Four firms, and some of the large technology players. What Capco is capturing is the ability to be the best combination of all of those. And what manifests is a set of projects that our people are experiencing, that are challenging on all of those levels, that are truly transformational, that are complex, that start with strategic issues that our clients face, and we're able to take them end to end. I think a lot of our people enjoy the types of engagements, as they're at the core of our clients' practical and business transforming issues,
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.