The 2022 Top Consultants: Toni Dolby

Toni Dolby is a Managing Director and Senior Consultant with the Compensation and Rewards service line of Gallagher's Human Resources and Compensation Consulting practice. She is one of a handful of people who has contributed to the practice's rise to leadership in the compensation consulting field, almost from the beginning.

During her 25-plus years with the practice, Toni has served as a senior account executive and a vice president for client services. She became a principal in the practice in 1995 and a partner the following year. Toni has designed compensation, benefit, and retention plans for a wide variety of health system organizations ranging in size from the local community hospital to some of the largest healthcare systems in the nation.

Toni has been instrumental in facilitating the coordination of compensation plans for various clients following a merger or reorganization. She has led hundreds of client assignments, designed compensation philosophies and strategies, and developed annual and long-term incentive plans and supplemental retirement plans.

Toni's breadth of experience and longevity at Gallagher enable her to manage a large number of client projects during every stage of their development as well as the ongoing, long-term relationship. Toni received a degree in accounting from Moorhead (Minnesota) State University.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

I joined a small consulting company not long after college and was given a great variety of opportunities to learn as well as having had the privilege of working with amazing people. Having grown up on a farm in a small community in Minnesota and being able to call my dad to tell him I had been named a partner was one of the best moments of my personal and professional life.

I am also very proud of my long-term client relationships – some I have worked with for more than 20 years.

What advice would I give a professional just starting just beginning a career in consulting?

Listen! As consultants, we tend to like to hear ourselves talk and share our knowledge. Instead, listen to your client. Once you truly understand their issues it's exponentially easier to provide solutions that will be the most beneficial to your clients.

Find a mentor – one that will share their knowledge and experience and push you to be your best. The founder of the firm I started with, Gary Fink, and the president of the firm, Don Wegmiller did that for me and I will be forever grateful.

What have you loved the most about your consulting career?

The people – both my clients and my colleagues that I have had the opportunity to work with. I have supported some of the largest most complex health systems in the country as well as small hospitals in rural areas and I truly believe I learned something from each and every one of them.

We have a great team – smart, highly motivated and committed to our clients! We love to work with our clients and find solutions to complex issues tailored to their individual needs.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

There has been so much throughout the years but one that often comes to mind is a comment one of my mentors said to me "data is only part of the answer." The message is quite simple but it is actually profound. Good consulting requires "out-of-the-box thinking." In our partnership with our clients, we are often dealing with stressful situations. We need to have patience and pull together people with differing opinions to find a resolution. What might be the most logical answer just might not be the right answer for the situation – it is not all about the numbers – think "outside the box."

What does being honored as a Top Consultant mean to you?

It is an extreme honor that the leadership of our practice at Gallagher thought enough of me to nominate me and Consulting magazine to choose me as one of the recipients for this prestigious award.

It is an acknowledgment that my work has been appreciated by my clients and my colleagues. This industry has been very good to me and I hope that I have given back even a small portion of that to my employers and to my clients.

This award is a reminder to me to stay focused on my client relationships and continue to grow both personally and professionally.