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."
The feedback and decision were devastating to Nalbantian, but Kieffer told him that personal dynamics and style are part of the equation in consulting. "The client has to be comfortable with you as a partner, not just the work you do," Keiffer said. "And that I should accept the reality of this dynamic and learn from it. What mattered was not how I was perceived but how our findings were received."
Dave was so right, Nalbantian says. "In the end, all went well with the client and the work continued. I received clear affirmation that how you communicate results is as important as the content you are communicating. I also learned to park my ego and focus on ensuring that you do what it takes to make the work as impactful as possible for the client."
Those lessons have served Nalbantian well over the course of his career. Today, Nalbantian is a Senior Partner at Mercer and a founder and leader of Mercer's Workforce Sciences Institute. A labor / organizational economist, he has been instrumental in developing Mercer's unique capability to measure the economic impact of human capital management in organizations.
"My proudest career achievement is helping to inspire, create and develop Mercer's Workforce Strategy & Analytics group," he says. "Launched as an innovation task force in 1993, this interdisciplinary team of labor/organizational economists, industrial/organizational psychologists, statisticians and data scientists has been at the forefront of bringing evidence-based workforce management to client organizations."
Embracing an asset management approach to human capital, the group helps organizations empirically identify the workforce characteristics and practices that drive business performance.
"Nothing beats having profound and sustained impact on client organizations and the many people who work for them," Nalbantian says. "The other wonderful thing about consulting is that we never stop learning. It seems that each and every project brings or uncovers something new. There are new problems to solve and new insights to think about. I always tell people I'll retire when I stop learning. I guess that means I'll be working for some time to come."
What does winning Consulting's Top 25 Award mean to you?
Nalbantian: "It means a lot to me to be recognized specifically for "excellence in client service." Frankly, I have not been the most "commercial" of consultants over the years. It took me some time to develop commercial instincts. Nonetheless, Mercer found room for me. My first love has always been the work itself and so I immerse myself in the delivery side of project work with clients. If I couldn't do that, I wouldn't remain a consultant."
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