The 2024 Best Firms to Work For: Spaulding Ridge

CLIENT INDUSTRIES SERVED: Health Care & Life Sciences, Manufacturing, High Tech, Energy & Utilities, Consumer Packaged Goods & Retail, Finance & Business Services, Higher Education, and Private Equity

CONSULTING SERVICE LINES: Implementation Services, Cloud Managed Services, Data & Analytics, Change Management, and Integrations

Spaulding Ridge is a global leader in data-first technology consulting for the offices of the CFO, CRO, and CIO. We drive clear outcomes and better insights for companies—because when you see further, you go further. We help companies use their cloud technology to achieve:

• Financial and operational strength. Plan, execute, record, review, and optimize every piece of your business with integrated finance and operations solutions.
• Revenue excellence. Drive profit by giving your customers the personal attention and outstanding service they expect.
• Organizational effectiveness. Get managed services support, change management support, systems integrations, and data tools to maintain a solid foundation for your business.

CMAG: What characteristics and elements would you attribute to your firm's inclusion as a Best Firm to Work For?

Our commitment to our values is what earned us recognition as a Best Firm to Work For. We support our employees through resource groups that drive employee growth and community, invest in our employees' development and well-being through robust people and culture programming, and create a work atmosphere that encourages everyone to accomplish their best work. We are constantly learning and adapting the way we do business to create a great environment for our employees and deliver great client service.

CMAG: Are there any specific programs or initiatives that contributed to you being included as a Best Firm?

Spaulding Ridge has made big investments in our people and culture function, establishing well-equipped teams to lead our efforts in recruiting and supporting talent. This includes several opportunities for continuous learning: through formal learning paths, a mentorship program, opt-in training sessions, and a learning stipend. Taken together, these programs allow our people to grow their careers according to their own interests and values.

Our four Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are key pillars of our people and culture initiatives. Women Elevate is focused on building connections between women in technology by offering resources and community to empower women in the tech industry. PROUD stands up for the LGBTQIA+ community within the firm and around the world, offering opportunities to learn and volunteer focused on acceptance, inclusion, and connection. The Mental Wellness Alliance ERG is working to reduce mental health stigma and to improve the mental wellness of our people by increasing awareness and education, fostering connection, and promoting a culture that supports employee well-being. Finally, the Culture, Race & Ethnicity ERG promotes empathy, cultural competence, and allyship by highlighting and celebrating the diversity of our firm.

CMAG: In describing your firm, what would you say sets it apart from other consulting firms?

As a professional services firm, we believe our biggest competitive advantage will always be how we deliver for clients and the values we live by: "All business is personal," "efficient execution," "culture forward," and "think global." While other consulting firms espouse similar beliefs, we put these values first in everything we do, going the extra mile for our clients. We can solve complex strategic problems for Fortune 500 companies based on our global reach while maintaining a boutique feel in how we approach the relationships with both our clients and software partners.

Our offerings spread across multiple platforms, driving value for a breadth of key business stakeholders. This coupled with the technical depth of our consultants allows us to ensure that a cohesive transformation of cloud technologies drives the operational efficiencies and data visibility our clients need.

Spaulding Ridge has made learning and development a major focus since we were founded. Each member of the band is given the resources to grow, from a learning stipend to formal mentorship programs to regular shared learning programs. We believe in giving junior team members freedom to grow and to make an impact, and our senior team members know part of their job is to create a supportive environment at the firm. Our people buy into this model because they know we believe in it—and considering how many of our Partners first joined Spaulding Ridge as junior employees, we believe the results speak for themselves.

CMAG: Where your workforce is concerned, what would you say your priorities look like for the upcoming year and beyond?

Looking to the next year, we are making a concerted effort to expand our data capabilities. For our clients facing a complex business landscape, strong data infrastructure will be more and more necessary for good strategic decisions. We want to be the partner of choice for companies who need real answers out of their data.

CMAG: What opportunities do you see as the most promising?

We are particularly excited about the opportunities in the data & analytics space. Our clients continue to share their struggles with obtaining the information needed to make well-informed decisions. They may be collecting and storing intel, but they cannot bring it all together to see the full picture. We believe the companies that will continue to propel forward will be those that uncover the insights needed to drive change. Especially as AI and other emerging capabilities increase what you can do with data, the companies that achieve basic data fluency will gain value from it. Our team has been innovative in the solutions we drive, supported by industry knowledge and a strong understanding of the various cross functional leaders at the table needed for buy in for our clients to be successful.

Speaking of our client base, while we expect healthy growth from new customers, our most exciting opportunities have usually been from current and past clients. This comes back to our values again: When we become trusted partners to our clients, and we work with them to understand and solve their business challenges, we find new ways to help. Spaulding Ridge is well-positioned to continue building the kind of multi-year, multi-service partnerships that help us and our clients grow.

CMAG: What market forces do you see as the most challenging?

We know that the need for greater financial performance and reduced spending are both relevant amongst the clients we serve with many geopolitical and economic headwinds at play.

We know clients are being more mindful of how to spend their valuable dollars to drive their success with fewer vendors they are working with. We know our services directly improve the efficiencies in both the office of the CFO and the CRO and believe with our values we can be a more strategic partner in the mix. This will require us to continue to be intentional about the offerings we provide, and the "all business is personal" relationships we develop.

CMAG: What impact do you think Best Firm to Work For honors will have on your employees? The firm overall? Clients?

We hope receiving Best Firm to Work For honors again will prove to both our employees and clients that our culture is working—that believing in and supporting our employees is at the root of why we are successful. Spaulding Ridge's culture is an opt-in model, so as we grow, Best Firm to Work For status will help us attract people who want to be a part of it. We will keep attracting professionals who care about the impact of their work on the world, and who want a rewarding work experience.