The 2024 Best Small Firms to Work For: Valent Partners

CLIENT INDUSTRIES SERVED: Energy & Renewables, Insurance, Healthcare, BioTech, Automotive

CONSULTING SERVICE LINES: Business Transformation, Technology Strategy, Digital and Data Solutions

Valent Partners is a talent-centered consulting firm where we live daily our mission of boldly accelerating the success of our people, our clients, and our communities. Our people choose Valent as a career destination to learn and develop as business and technology leaders across industries and problem sets. Our clients choose to work with us for our creativity, commitment, and thoughtfulness in developing strategies and leading-edge technology solutions that deliver ambitious business outcomes. We relentlessly support the communities we serve with our time, talents and resources.

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

Our name, "Valent", stands for who we are in all aspects of our firm: imaginative, courageous, and bold. This permeates everything we do to invest in and develop our Valentians (one of our earliest consultants coined the term). We are Partner-led on every engagement, creating accessibility and relationships between all Valentians and firm leaders. Communication around business performance is clear and frequent, and open to all Valentians. We create many opportunities to play a role in "Building Valent" that gives each person an opportunity to contribute to weaving our firm's DNA, and to establish a sense of ownership and commitment from all consultants. We have a transparent compensation structure while also recognizing team and individual excellence. While hybrid, we nurture a thriving in-office culture (at the client or our own space) that accelerates growth and enhances the connectivity among our Valentians.

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

Since inception in 2019, we designed our firm to maximize the experience and growth opportunities for our Valentians, for whom we presume career ambition. A key component to this recognition is our transparent performance review process anchored in our Valentian Dimensions. Each consultant receives formal 360° feedback twice annually, with many receiving the feedback via facilitated in-person conversations that we call Open Reviews. This process, consistent with our mission, has created exceptional alignment between their goals, professional development focus areas, and Valent's business strategy. In addition to a comprehensive 100% company-paid benefits plan, we have found our Unlimited PTO and Parental leave programs to be important elements in our Valentians achieving an optimal work-life balance. We mutually recognize we need our people to bring their best self every day and the opportunity to refresh mentally is critical.

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

It's easy to say, but harder to substantiate, that our people are the best. But they are. And it's reflected in our recruiting, assessment, and retention results. Further, building permanent trusted relationships resides at the center of our "Why" – with our clients, our Valentians, the communities we serve. That obsession plus an infinite time horizon, combined with the commitment to make all successful, drives our Valentian and overall firm growth.

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

Our priority has been and will remain focused on our people. This includes advancing capabilities around emerging technologies (deep in AI) and business paradigms and delivering key people/managerial leadership training for mid-career Valentians. We will continue to dedicate further resources to our self-directed learning program that encourages our team members to pursue growth in their personal areas of interest. We have also developed a robust and effective mentorship and employee recognition system which we continually enhance.

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

We see many opportunities, but three key stand out:

1. The imperative for digital transformation resides in every organization. This includes strong demand for enterprise architecture & planning, modernization of legacy technology, and cloud migration/maximization.
2. Everything data. Demand for business performance insights to make decisions and improve operational efficiency requires a strong data foundation and advanced analytics capabilities. Data quality, integrity, and security will continue to be critical to maximizing opportunities here and to capitalize on Generative AI and Machine Learning.
3. Organizations will seek to remain innovative and ahead of competition while increasing efficiency. Helping clients achieve business agility through process improvement and automation is a sizeable opportunity.

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

Accessing the unique talent our firm seeks remains the largest market challenge. While the investment climate may remain tighter, and some clients have a lower risk posture, we continue to see high ROI projects greenlit.

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

Since this award is based on the survey of our people, being named a Best Firm to Work is an exciting validation of Valent's design. It is also a very meaningful recognition in the marketplace that Valent Partners is a consulting firm prospective candidates should consider, maybe even pursue, to achieve their career aspirations.