17. Argo Consulting
Headquarters: Chicago Number of Billable Consultants: 87 Client Industries Served: Private Equity, Industrials, Chemical, Oil & Gas, Food & Beverage; Transportation, Life Sciences, Aerospace & Defense. Consulting Service Lines: Operations Management
Fernando Assens, CEO & co-founder of Argo says he believes the two initiatives that have been critical for the firm to become one of the Best Small Firms to Work For have been: one, its strategy, and two, its ability to recruit people that are a real fit.
"Strategically, we know what Argo is truly good at, and as we grow and expand into new industry verticals, we can very quickly offer services where we will deliver great results and become a very relevant consulting firm to that industry," Assens says. "And there is something else we believe we have learned to do better than most firms: to identify, hire, promote, and retain outstanding people that are a great cultural fit."
It is not enough to hire great people, he says. No matter how brilliant they otherwise are, Argo hires only those that are a great fit for what the firm does, and who will excel on the type of projects that clients hire Argo to deliver.
This year, the largest and most exciting of those projects are in Private Equity, Chemicals, Product Development and Innovation, and Aerospace & Defense, Assens says. "We just closed a three-year Product Development & Innovation project with a $30 billion consumer products company," he says. "In Private Equity we continue to gain new clients and consolidate our brand in operational due diligence and post-acquisition implementation; in Chemicals we continue the strong growth in both operational excellence and logistics."
What sets Argo apart is its hands-on implementation approach, Assens says. "Our clients do not hire us to deliver presentations, but to deliver quantifiable results. You don't get battle scars from a PowerPoint, you earn them in the trenches of experience," he says. "At Argo it's not about the color of your collar. It's about how far you are willing to roll up your sleeves."
After 21 years in business, Assens says he believes the firm has achieved great alignment between the projects it's really good at delivering, and its people. Each year, about 70 percent of the firm's revenue is from repeat clients. "We are still working with companies that initially hired us over 17 years ago, and we don't take their trust lightly," he says.
That type of long-term loyalty has been one of the reasons Argo continues to be ranked among the Best Small Firms to Work For year in and year out. "It is a strong source of pride and motivation for our team to be recognized as one of the best small consulting firms to work for," Assens says. "The award validates the strong culture we have created. It is clear that our employees like working with each other, truly enjoy what they do, and are motivated to achieve outstanding, measurable, and sustainable results for our clients."
Meanwhile, Assens says it's very meaningful recognition for the firm's clients, as well. "We have more credibility as a consulting firm when we have been recognized ourselves as being an employer of choice," he says. "Clients like working with consultants who are enthusiastic about their jobs, ego-free, and dedicated to deliver results."
How would you describe morale at your firm and why?
Assens: Morale is high, and it is due to the satisfaction our team gets from the high-quality assignments our clients hire us to deliver. Working on highly complex projects that profoundly transform our client companies for the long haul is extremely rewarding. Over seventy percent of our annual revenue is from repeat clients, which, over and over, trust us with improving their most pressing operational issues.
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