15. North Highland
Headquarters: Atlanta Billable Consultants: 1,000+ Client Industries Served: Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Media, Entertainment & Communications, Public Sector, Retail & Consumer Packaged Goods, Transportation, Travel and Leisure Consulting Service Lines: Strategy
Well, that didn't take long. After not being part of the Best Firms to Work For rankings last year for the first time in a decade, North Highland is back.
Mary Slaughter, Chief People Officer of North Highland, says it's an honor to be included on the list. "Our firm is proud of who we are and what we've built together. Our employees work together to deliver real impact for our clients, and to create a culture of entrepreneurship, ownership and creativity," Slaughter says. "This award is a recognition of their efforts and dedication. From our inception, North Highland has evolved and grown to meet the needs of our clients, and our clients recognize that."
Slaughter says that with any transformation, organizations are challenged to simultaneously retain the best of the past and create an exceptional future and it's no different at North Highland.
"People are excited and energized about what's to come; North Highland employees have a natural curiosity and bring a challenger mindset, which allows them to create value for clients in new and differentiated ways," she says. "We have shifted to meet consulting market dynamics and have added new talent to the firm, allowing us to go deeper in our expertise, while still always keeping a focus on client relationships."
As the firm positions itself for the next stage of its growth, it is gathering feedback from employees about how to continuously improve the employee experience. "We are deepening our investments in people development and putting a great deal of emphasis on role clarity which enables people to excel," she says. "Our leaders are committed to helping put our people in the best position to succeed. I believe our people are proud to be a part of the journey."
That journey includes working hard to find the optimal intersection for growth—growth for its clients, growth for its employees and growth for North Highland, Slaughter says. "We sit in a unique place in the market. North Highland is large enough to service our clients across the full spectrum of consulting, but we're still at a size where we can be nimble and flexible to meet our clients' needs and changing market dynamics."
Dan Reardon, CEO of North Highland, says the firm's clients are facing challenges never seen before—from the impacts of AI on the workforce, to supporting large-scale business transformations, clients are looking to North Highland to guide them through these challenges as they plan for the future. "Our Client Experience expertise continues to drive demand, with our Employee Experience practice being a recognized leader in the industry," Reardon says. "We are seeing significant demand when we integrate digital technology with Customer Experience. People and Change is also a strong area of growth for us, as it touches almost every client engagement within North Highland."
Q&A: Where there any specific initiatives that contributed to you being a Best Firm?
Reardon: "In 2017, we launched our first firm-wide social impact program, focused on economic empowerment. Our goal is to apply our knowledge to attack the root causes of poverty. Our consultants are extremely passionate about helping our communities, and this is a powerful way to leverage our consulting acumen. We piloted five markets in 2017, and are looking forward to rolling out more in 2018."
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