The 2022 Best Small Firms to Work For: ImagineX Consulting

Client Industries Served: Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Communications/Entertainment, Healthcare/Pharma, High Tech/Software, Hospitality

Consulting Service Lines: IT Consulting

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

To be a Best Small Firm to Work For by Consulting Magazine is something that every ImagineXer is proud of. To be a Best Small Firm for 5 consecutive years is an honor. And to have two of those years coincide with our industry's and our world's most volatile environment is something we could have never imagined. We swell with pride when we look back at these five years and truly appreciate how far we have come as one of the best boutique consultancies in the industry. And it all comes down to grit, perseverance, a mindset of "never giving up" and a north star of doing the right thing for our consultants, our clients, our communities, and our company.

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

We have continued to provide frequent and open communication with our employees – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Shielding our folks from the reality of our economic and business environment will only hurt us as a company. So we recognize we are not perfect and we embrace change. If things are not working, we listen to our consultants and we pivot because we built this company for them. Our focus coming out of the pandemic has been "flexibility" – with work/life integration, balance in the work our consultants do for our customers and internally to help us improve, and a return to a new normal of working apart but maintaining our special culture of "family". We have taken the opportunity to create an environment where in person connection is available but virtual get-togethers are just as important.

CMAG: What's unique about your firm? What sets it apart?

We tell our customers that we are "small enough to care, but big enough to scale" and 2022 has certainly proven that. Customers from pre-COVID have re-engaged with us to help them deliver their most critical cybersecurity and software engineering initiatives. Customers that stuck with us during the downturn are receiving the benefit of our high performance teams to support their systems and services. And our investment in our internal functions such as recruiting during the entirety of the pandemic has meant that we have access to top tier talent and a growing firm that is attractive to those consultants who are looking for flexibility and a chance to put their fingerprint on how we scale as a company.

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

Clearly supporting our culture – most companies took a morale hit in 2020 and 2021. We have always stayed true to our belief in rewarding collaboration, accountability, and entrepreneurship. And in 2022, with our strongest year in our 7 year history, we are able to take a breath and truly celebrating with our people. As we focus on closing out this year, we are already looking to see how we can maintain our current momentum while also looking to our next strategic set of opportunities that will grow our company over the next 3-5 years.

CMAG: When you look at the remainder of this year and 2023, what excites you? What opportunities do you see in your future?

2023 should see a stabilization in the hiring market for technical talent: this was a huge concern at the beginning of 2022 – consultants were moving around a lot, salaries and rewards jumped, but this seems to be equalizing now. ImagineX's focus will be to round out our leadership team, supplement our sales and software partner organization, and continue to push our diversity initiatives. We are proud to have more female promotes than male promotes since 2022 and our engineering, leadership, and internal team new hires includes many amazing women in technology. In terms of offerings, we continue to project demand for cybersecurity maturity assessments, cloud security, and secure application development.

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

This prestigious award is a result of us listening to our consultants through informal feedback and a detailed annual internal survey that we benchmark against past internal initiatives and what is most important to "fix". We then make incremental improvements so we are not just listening to feedback, but acting on it. I think this has translated into why our consultants feel valued and supported. Obviously, 5 consecutive years as a Best Small Firm allows us to attract top talent and our clients realize that happy consultants deliver innovative and high quality solutions that will allow them to "#BeBetter" in their industry.

CMAG: Thank you, and congratulations.