The 2023 Best Firms to Work For: Centric Consulting

Client Industries Served: Technology, Insurance, Energy & Utilities; Financial Services, Manufacturing, Healthcare

Consulting Service Lines: Strategy and IT

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

When we founded Centric Consulting more than two decades ago, we knew we wanted to build a different type of consulting firm, one that would be dedicated to both client and employee happiness and an exceptional workplace culture that celebrates collaboration, authentic connection, and trust, and treats employees as humans first. Through all the ups and downs over the years, we haven't wavered from those core values. We strive to live those values every day and bring people on board who are true culture adds, who genuinely value and embody Centric's unmatched culture.

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

We believe culture is a living thing that requires consistent care and consideration. We have several programs designed to ensure our culture remains relevant and vibrant and that Centric continues to be a great place to work.

Our company-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program, Centric Together, engages team members at all levels of the company to build a diverse, inclusive and empathic community and to create meaningful and sustainable positive change. Centric Together started in 2020 with us simply listening to our people. This year, we're significantly advancing our efforts, positioning DEI as a business function to work alongside talent management and talent acquisition, with the goal of cultivating an inclusive work environment and taking actionable steps to diversity our workforce.

We also have a formal mechanism for transparency and feedback: Voice of the People (VOTE). Anytime we make key company decisions, we run it by our VOTE team, which includes employees of all levels and backgrounds. Through VOTE, we regularly survey our employees and use their feedback to make changes. Engaging a diverse range of employees ensures our culture remains true to its mission to create an unmatched work environment—leadership can't assume we know what that means to everyone.

Finally, our tailored leadership development program is rooted in our culture and values and is designed to prepare the next generation of leaders to live our culture and inspire others to do the same. Our employees appreciate the opportunity to advance in their career and level up their leadership skills – in the program's first year alone, more than 300 employees participated.

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

Our dedication to employee happiness means we're able to hire and retain passionate, highly skilled experts who in turn provide unmatched experiences to our clients. In fact, our clients report a 98% satisfaction rate, citing our flexibility, expertise, trustworthiness, and transparency.

Our culture places relationships front and center, and we treat everyone—employees and clients alike—with trust and loyalty. What's the top priority over the next 6 to 12 months?

Navigating the economic headwinds and positioning ourselves to take advantage of growth opportunities when things turn around.

As always, we also remain dedicated to meeting clients' evolving needs and bringing on board the right talent to help. For instance, this year we completed our first acquisition, The Mako Group, a leading cyber risk management firm. Adding their expertise to our team allows us to offer more comprehensive, holistic solutions to the critical security challenges all businesses face today. Over the next months, we'll be focused on fully integrating our new team members and expanding our cybersecurity capabilities.

CMAG: When you look at the remainder of this year and 2024, what excites you? What opportunities do you see in your markets?

The future looks bright. Centric has achieved an average of 10 percent annual growth over the last two decades, and we expect to continue that trend.

We've designed our company to deliver the best of Centric to our clients with a unique mix of specialized skills and experts combined with our local consulting and offshore capability. We will continue to provide career growth for our people by making meaningful investments in areas where we see an opportunity for future growth.

One such area is artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already remaking the business world, offering endless opportunities for organizational growth and evolution. A decade ago, the saying was "every business is an internet business." Well, now every business will become an AI business. We're excited to continue to deepen our expertise in this area, helping guide clients through this disruptive landscape to fuel future success.

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

It's a meaningful honor that we take great pride in. We founded Centric to be a great place to work. We see the evidence of our success every day in our people, and this award only further validates those feelings. We believe key to being a great place to work is that we don't just focus on the experience of our clients – we also want our employees to have unmatched experiences. When our employees are happy, they provide great service to clients, which translates to a better bottom line.