The 2021 Best Firms to Work For: AlixPartners

Client Industries Served: All industries

Consulting Service Lines: All

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

We have been very clear that our top priority is the health and wellbeing of our people and have demonstrated this through the working policies and procedures we have implemented. As the pandemic stretched into its second year, we have adapted to changing conditions throughout and continued to learn from our experience.

We have added new benefits and support systems to help our people in these difficult times and provided the tools and training to allow our people to remain highly productive and resilient while working remotely. In addition, we have engaged people in developing the vision for our Hybrid Work model for the new normal. Providing this level of support for our people and their families has enabled them to maintain their focus on clients throughout and best serve our clients who are dealing with similar challenges.

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

At the very start of Covid-19 we established a working group of senior leaders supported by a small, dedicated team with people in each of our countries around the world to coordinate and implement our response. We have put many support programs in place, including two weeks additional paid leave to deal with Covid- related personal issues; reimbursements for expenses to better equip home offices and manage incremental costs for caregiving and household expenses; protocols to ensure safe use of offices (when appropriate locally) and visits to client sites; supply PPE kits.

Equally important, especially as the pandemic wore on, we held extensive training and provided resources to help with personal resilience and dealing with the stress of these times. Communication has been critical. While we do not have all the answers, we have made it a top priority to be open and provide opportunities to share our views on the evolving situation and answer all questions that are on people's minds. We built an extensive intranet site dedicated to Covid-19 related issues which we continue to augment with additional resources every day. Most importantly, we have learned as the pandemic wore on. We have not been hesitant to change and adapt as we go.

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

Our firm was built to help clients in "when it really matters" situations and we have done just that in this turbulent period of intense disruption. It is in our DNA to deal with the most difficult and urgent issues – and we have applied that approach both internally in supporting our people during Covid-19, and externally in supporting our clients.

Our culture is built on being Values-Based, Client-Focused and People-Centric. These principles have served us especially well in these unprecedented times. In fact, our firm is celebrating its 40th anniversary. To mark this we have an 18-month celebration of our culture underway right now. Each quarter we focus on one of our six Core Competencies and celebrate how these are lived every day by our people and how they differentiate us from other firms.

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

We continue to prioritize both our people and serving our clients in what is and will remain a challenging environment. We initially worked almost entirely remotely for many months, and now we are gradually evolving to a more hybrid model of work, with some work at client sites or our offices and some work done remotely from home. We are optimizing this hybrid working model so that our clients continue to receive the highest levels of service and results, while our people benefit from the highest levels of safety and flexibility. We are adopting the best learnings from Covid-19, creating a model of work that delivers better results for clients and higher satisfaction for our people.

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

All companies are operating in an environment of constant disruption and dealing with new and unusual challenges – which is exactly when AlixPartners can provide the greatest value. We were built to help companies manage through disruption, and we are seeing great demand from clients going forward. Challenging times are exciting times and our people thrive in doing important work when the stakes are high.

There are also exciting opportunities for us to further develop the diversity and inclusion in our team. Whether it be responding to social issues such as the tragic murder of George Floyd or the spread of anti-Asian sentiment globally or finding new opportunities to recruit and retain diverse people in our new Hybrid Work model, we see opportunities to grow. We have come a long way on our journey to engage leadership, open the culture, and expand the employee base. I am proud of the success so far, while recognizing that we need to make further progress. In the last year we have also extended our leadership in this area with Elton Ndoma-Ogar assuming the global role as Head of Diversity & Inclusion.

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

Being people-centric is a key principle for AlixPartners. Recognition as a Best Firm to Work For is a signal that we are on the right path in this journey. It affirms that our people recognize our efforts in this area and motivates us to continue. And we believe it is a virtuous cycle. By attracting, developing, and retaining the best people, we can deliver the best results for our clients. Our clients recognize this, and it is one of the reasons they rely on us in their most challenging times.