Pros
- Compensation is fair. I've personally witnessed people receiving 10+% raises because leaders did a market evaluation and found that their folks were not making enough. I've always felt well-compensated.
- Culture is outstanding. If you stay plugged-in to company events, you will feel like part of a family. I've gone through some personal issues recently, and the amount of people who have reached out offering support, hugs, dinner, beers has been hugely impactful to me. There is a family feel with this company that I have only found at one other place in my career. And as we grow, it's clear the leaders are concerned about fostering this culture and not letting it slip away.
- Events are top-notch. Skedaddle, the yearly all-expense getaway weekend in the mountains, continues to be a huge draw for me. I love getting to kick back and spend the weekend with coworkers/friends. The Christmas party, summer picnic, Rockies opener tailgate, and other events are all well-done and fun.
- The company is willing to be self-critical. The Widening the Circle training, for all of it's "diversity rah rah" has a great introspective point to it. We identified the "typical Slalomer": avid drinker, young, preppy, college-educated, white, among others. And it makes us think about the people we may be missing out on because we aren't stepping out of our typical circles to find folks that are just as good if not better, but don't look/act like a typical Slalomer. And I've seen results from the training: we offer more events where drinking isn't a central point--variety is great!
- Leadership is open. I've witnessed very frank questions from coworkers to both office and national leadership, and have heard frank answers. The leadership at all levels (barring a few folks in the Denver office) is very approachable, personable, and honest. When things go wrong, they own it. When things don't pan out, they analyze why not and tell us. We have insight into company financials and plans on both year and multi-year forecasts.
- Work/life balance is modeled by leadership for the most part. I've seen practice directors take additional time off after having children. I've had coworkers who moved to a 4-day week to support their personal life needs. All of these changes are supported wherever possible. Consultants have the right to say "no" to a project that won't fit their desired work/life balance.
Cons
- Benefits, particularly 401k match, could use some work. The company has made strides in the benefits area, but they are still not at the level I expect from a world-class company.
- The ITP process (Intent to Pursue--the promotion process) is not fun for most people that endure it. I've seen two quality coworkers get stuck in ITP with objectives met but no appetite for their promotion. We lost both of them to other companies because they were fed up with not having the promotion occur. ITP is different for different people and roles, as well. Some people it seems don't even go through it, while for others it takes a year. I haven't talked to a single person who has gone through ITP that thought it was valuable.
- If you aren't willing to put in the time to see and be seen at outside events, your mobility is limited. I don't necessarily see this as a con, but I'm putting it out there for those who expect quality work to be the sole promotion force. Slalom still has a solid group of Consultants who just want to do the work and go home, and that is supported and not in any way deterred.
