The 2024 Best Small Firms to Work For: Acquis Consulting Group

CLIENT INDUSTRIES SERVED: Life Sciences, Industrials, Technology, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail and Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Travel and Hospitality

CONSULTING SERVICE LINES: Strategy, Operations Management, IT

Acquis Consulting Group is a world-class management consulting firm best known for helping ambitious organizations design strategies and putting those strategies to work. With our 'Think + Do' approach, we design innovative solutions leveraging strategy, implementation, and digital services for early start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

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

Our mantra of 'people first' touches every element of the employee experience — from hiring through client work. As a people first company, we encourage and foster an entrepreneurial spirit. We actively empower Acquis employees to gain new experiences, build and execute like an owner, and directly shape our trajectory. Acquis team members consistently remark about their opportunity to build something and bring it to life.

Additionally, we fully value and embrace diversity, encompassing both who we are and our perspectives. The Acquis employee base represents the heterogenous marketplace in which we operate, which allows us to learn and grow from each other to best serve our clients.

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

Our commitment to fostering a supportive and inclusive workplace is embodied in our people first mantra. We have taken significant steps to go above and beyond in caring for our employees and creating a best-in-class place to work.

Acquis offers generous medical, vision, and dental benefits for employees and their dependents, including access to 24/7 on-demand virtual health care. We are equally committed to the mental and emotional health of our employees and offer all employees confidential access to Modern Health, a technology that allows employees access to video-based therapy sessions, executive coaching sessions, and access to mental health support via text.

Knowing that student debt is a burden carried by many of our employees, we offer a generous annual stipend to help pay down student debt faster or to use it towards continuing education. We encourage every employee to focus on their fitness by offering a monthly stipend that can be used to offset gym memberships or pay for fitness classes. We also provide an annual stipend for home office equipment that employees can use to purchase equipment such as treadmill desks or ergonomic equipment.

We regularly look to expand our benefits and are currently piloting a VIP (Very Important Pup) program so that our employees can bring a special furry friend to the office on designated days.

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

Our Think+Do approach. This means that the Acquis team focuses on both strategy and execution, which enables them to get closer to clients and work as extensions of their team. We have consistently received high marks from clients and employees alike when it comes to balancing being an external party vs. a team extension. This also gives employees an opportunity to learn, further advance their skills, build deeper relationships, and ultimately make a bigger difference.

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

Acquis continues to have high demand for our services, even during times of economic uncertainty and change

The rest of the year is focused on driving sustainable, profitable growth that best serves our employees and clients. We will continue to be trusted partners for our clients and will invest heavily in strategic areas to ensure we can serve clients — both today and the future.

We also will continue to provide best-in-class employee experience. We have recently built our own employee feedback system to better facilitate feedback in a matrixed consulting environment. Acquis employees have appreciated a more frequent and focused feedback loop, and we continue to improve the tool and our process to meet evolving needs..

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

With the acceleration of new operating models and technologies, most companies continue to assess their internal operations, external go-to-market, and the factors that propel them to success.

These assessments often yield the same conclusion and question "how do I build the optimal blended workforce for 2025 and 2035?" We see these questions percolating internally as well. What is the role of artificial intelligence going forward? Robotic process automation? What tools and technologies do my people need to be successful? What is the right mix?

We see the answer to these questions as the most exciting opportunities for 2025 and beyond.

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

The accelerating pace of change and the democratization of expertise means businesses much constantly do more with less – while doing it faster. While this is a challenge for every organization, it is an area we thrive in helping businesses navigate.

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

Acquis is proud to have earned the a "Best Firm to Work For" honor multiple times over the years. We have several employees who chose to apply to Acquis because of this distinction as it further validates our commitment to a people first culture. Our employees are proud to say that they work for a company that has been recognized for our focus on our people and clients.

For clients, it ensures they know that the best in the industry are working on their deliverables and engagements.