New CEO says the firm is armed and ready with a refreshed global strategy
Earlier this fall, Patrik Sjostedt became just the second CEO in Celerant's 25-year history. Sjostedt succeeds the firm's founder Ian Clarkson, who moved into the role of Founder and Life President last year. Sjostedt joined Celerant in 2008 as Head of the Nordic Region and most recently served as President of Celerant Europe. Headquartered in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Celerant operates in over 50 countries around the world with over 600 employees. Sjostedt sat down with Consulting to discuss his new role… and the next 25 years. Well, not quite.
Consulting: You're only Celerant's second CEO in 25 years…
Sjostedt: Yes, stepping into this role is a big step. I'm only the second CEO in 25 years and it's a big shadow to step into. On the other hand, I've been in the European role for the past two years and have been working in a leadership role on the effective management board for two years. I'm looking forward to the challenges.
Consulting: What are your initial goals?
Sjostedt: My first big goal centers around Celerant being even more integrated between Europe and the Americas. It's not that we haven't worked together before; it's just that given where the market is going, we need to do it even more. Clients are getting bigger and more global, even mid-sized companies are more international. Our competitors are doing the same, by the way, but one of the differentiators for us is that we are a mid-sized firm, or even a small firm compared to many of our competitors, but we have a global footprint in the way we work and the way we operate. So, for me, a top priority is to build on that strength and make that relationship even more of a differentiator than it has been. It's part of a global strategy… a global strategy with regional execution and a local delivery capability. That's very important.
Consulting: I know the firm's been growing; can you share how much?
Sjostedt: Well, we don't disclose revenues, but we set an internal goal to outgrow the market and that means organic growth between 5 and 10 percent across the entire firm. We've been that nearly every year. We've been fairly recession proof over most of the 25 years. The one exception was late 2008 and 2009 where we had a
big dip, but we recovered quite quickly. That 5 to 10 percent, of course, differs by market. In the U.S., for instance, we're growing in excess of 20 percent per year. In 2013, we see more growth in the Americas than in Europe. Eventually, we see that evening out but right now we see great opportunities in the Americas.
Consulting: Where are the opportunities?
Sjostedt: Celerant's heritage of business operations has traditionally been on the factory floor, very operational, but that's been changing over the last few years. We're moving to broader, more enterprise-wide engagements. For us, the logical extension is to continue to build out our supply chain practice. We see a lot of work coming that way. Also, to secure engagements these days, you have to talk higher up the organizational chart and you have to be able to talk to all levels of the organization. In that sense, our conversations—and the work that comes from them—is becoming more strategic in terms of what we call operational strategy, where we take a management team's ambition and break it down into specific deliverables and programs. That's a consequence of us having those discussions higher up in the organization.
Consulting: What do you see as your biggest challenges?
Sjostedt: The economy, particularly in Europe is a big question mark. There was more uncertainty a year ago, but of course, that can all change very quickly. In the Americas, I would say it's talent. The focus is really to get the right people on board and retain them.
Consulting: How do you convince top talent to come?
Sjostedt: In many ways, I think, it's similar to what our value proposition is for clients. I think the fact that we actually do implementation is very attractive for people. You get to see a lot of the cycle of a change program. You can see the results and see the change all the way through. You are working with the client day in and day out, which also differs from other firms. The positive is that you actually get to see the change implemented and that's a big benefit and differentiator from many of our competitors.
Consulting: I know Celerant's been a pioneer of value-based consulting. Tell me how that's a differentiator?
Sjostedt: In this economy, clients really value our approach. Right now, there seems to be less appetite for sustainable change. Our value proposition is all about sustainable change and making sure the changes stick. Right now, it seems clients are very short-sighted; they want to see the benefits and the sustainability they can deal with later, they say. That's always big conversation for us and we advise them to do the whole cycle.
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