The 2021 Best Small Firms to Work For: First Quadrant Advisory (FQA)

Client Industries Served: Healthcare, Industrial Sector, Private Equity)

Consulting Service Lines: Strategy and Operations

CMAG: How would you say you've managed to stay among the industry's Best Small Firms to Work For amid these unprecedented times?

We founded FQA because we wanted to do the work we enjoy doing and work with the people we enjoy working with. We have stayed 100% true to that philosophy. We only take on projects that are within our core. We pay extraordinary attention to who we hire and who we retain. By doing so, our staff can visibly feel that they are part of a high-performing team, doing high- performance work for our clients.

CMAG: Were there any specific programs or initiatives (internal or external) that contributed to you being a Best Small Firm to Work For?

We strive to create a balanced and richly diverse experience for our staff. The programs that have contributed to our culture are:

1. Diversity – 50% women, 12% veterans, 50% people of color among staff. And 60% people of color and 38% women among leadership
2. Talent acquisition – a rigorous in-house 5-step process where we receive 1500+ applicants every quarter, 200 of whom go through initial screening resulting in approx. 1 hire
3. Apprenticeship style training – rather than one-size-fits-all training, each employee's training plan is custom-developed by the Partner/Principal team. Furthermore, hands-on training is established as a formal performance measure for Partners, Principals and managers
4. Social impact – we have a dedicated practice that is funded by the Firm and focused on creating structural change to acute social ills. Staff receive 100% utilization credit for any time spent on social impact initiatives

CMAG: What is unique about your firm? What sets it apart?

We are a strategy and performance consulting firm built on a bedrock principle – that, unlike career consultants, leaders who have had to operationalize a strategy within a company are best positioned to create actionable solutions that drive business results. A hundred percent of our leadership team has this management experience and bring it to every consulting engagement in a partner-led delivery model. About 75% of our practitioners have this mix of experience as well.

CMAG: What's the top priority over the next 6 to 12 months?

As a 2-year old Firm, our top priority is to establish a track record of 100% successful engagements for our clients. This priority will continue for the next 12 months. It will be reflected in our actions by continuing to focus on high-quality talent acquisition, apprentice-ship based talent development and partner-led project delivery.

CMAG: When you look at the remainder of this year and 2022, what excites you? What opportunities do you see in your markets?

In the healthcare space, the pandemic forced increased adoption of digital health. This enabled Providers (doctors, hospital systems) to make the necessary foundational investments in delivering digital care. And it allowed patients and payers to understand the positives and negatives of digital health. As a result, many barriers to adoption were either removed or diminished. What excites me is the opportunity to create lasting change in the healthcare space – 2021 and 2022 will kick start this transformation into high gear.

CMAG: What impact do you think being a Best Small Firm to Work For has on the firm? Employees? Clients?

For all three stakeholders, it is a critical benchmark of how FQA fits in the consulting space. As the leader of the Firm, it enables me to understand what is working and what is not working. For employees, it gives them confidence that they are investing their time and energy with the right group of colleagues. And for clients, it validates the high quality of resources that are within FQA.