While it may be hard to believe – a consulting company’s culture (not prestige or pay) is the key to attracting new recruits. Vault.com has just released some powerful data that demonstrates the importance of culture and the role it plays in someone’s decision to join a consulting firm.  

“The emergence of culture as the most important decision variable for consulting recruits represents a generational shift: Young consultants are more interested in fundamental qualities and values of their firms than in compensation.”

Click on the link to view the findings: Vault 2010 Strategy Consulting Survey - Culture

We believe that this finding is not limited to consulting firms. More and more recruits are looking more closely at a company’s culture to assess whether or not the company is the right fit for them. In addition to closely examining a company’s core values, increasingly potential employees are asking themselves the following questions:

• Do the stated core values match my own?
• Does the company foster a work environment that is stimulating, engaging to me?
• What focus does the company put on learning and development and are they aligned to my goals and objectives?
• What work/life balance policies does the company have?
• Does the company reward and celebrate talent?
• Does the company pay for performance and clearly differentiate for the highest performers and the highest potential resources in our organization?

If you want your company to continue to attract the best talent, be sure that your culture stands out!

Vault.com, the source of ratings, rankings and insight for the consulting industry, unveiled a brand new ranking – The Vault Consulting 50 - that looks beyond prestige to determine the best consulting firms to work for.  Bain & Company took the top spot in this inaugural year for the Vault Consulting 50, followed by the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company.    

According the release, as part of Vault’s annual Management and Strategy Consulting Survey, conducted from March through July, over 4,500 consultants of all levels were asked to assess their peer consulting firms on a scale of 1 to 10 based on prestige (they were unable to rate their own firm, and were asked to rate only firms with which they were familiar).  They were also asked to rank their own firm’s quality of life.  A weighted formula was applied to the data to determine the Vault Consulting 50 Rankings for 2011.

 “We went out and asked consultants what mattered most to them in choosing an employer and prestige, while important, was not the biggest determining factor,” said Brian Dalton, managing editor at Vault.com.  “According to consultants, company culture was the most important factor, followed by practice strength, prestige and compensation, along with several other factors.” 

The Top 10 Firms from the Vault Consulting 50 Rankings for 2011 are:

1.    Bain & Company

2.    The Boston Consulting Group    

3.    McKinsey & Company

4.    Analysis Group

5.    The Cambridge Group                                        

6.    Deloitte Consulting                     

7.    Oliver Wyman  

8.    A.T. Kearney                  

9.    Triage Consulting Group            

10.  Censeo Consulting Group

To view the entire list click here: Vault Consulting 50 Rankings for 2011.

About Vault 

Vault.com is the source of employer and university rankings, ratings and insight for highly credentialed, in-demand candidates.  Vault.com is organized by profession, industry, company and schools.  Vault profiles, rankings and assessment tools deliver the insider perspective and career research candidates need to successfully match themselves to the best available job, employer and career opportunity. The Vault.com website features profiles on more than 4,500 employers, 4,000 universities and hundreds of industries and professions including the law, finance, accounting and consulting sectors.  Founded in 1996, Vault.com is the only career resource of its kind and attracts more than 1000 employer and recruiter advertisers, more than 1200 school and institutional subscribers and millions of individual visitors and members.

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The HRExaminer recently released its list of the Top 25 Online Influences in Leadership and we made the Top 25! Have a listen to this podcast on the Online Influencers.

To view the Top 25 click here. Thanks for the inclusion! See our score below!

Vault, the leading source of career information for law students and associates, has partnered with the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), an advocate for increased diversity in the legal profession, to produce the 5th Annual Legal Diversity Career Fair for law students and lateral associates. Meet with hiring partners and recruiters from top law firms, government agencies, and general counsel during recruiting hall hours.

Why should you attend? If you are a minority, female, GLBT or a candidate with a disability this fair provides the opportunity to meet and network with recruiters from law firms, government agencies, corporate law departments and non-profit organizations who are firmly committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession.

There is still time to register for pre-scheduled 20-minute interviews with recruiters. So, be sure to sign-up for the July 30^th event in Washington, DC at the Renaissance Hotel.

To visit the site, click here. To learn more, read the press release below.

VAULT TO UNVEIL 2011 LAW FIRM DIVERSITY RANKINGS; HONOR LAW FIRMS FOR THEIR COMMITMENT TO PROMOTING DIVERSITY IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION

New York, NY, (July 15, 2010) Vault.com, the source of ratings, rankings and insight for law students and lawyers, has partnered with the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), an advocate for increased diversity in the legal profession, to present the 5th Annual Legal Diversity Career Fair for law students and lateral associates on Friday, July 30, 2010 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. 

“The legal profession has come a long way with respect to diversity, but based on Vault’s survey data, there is still more that can be done,” said Claude Sheer, CEO of Vault.com.  “The Vault/MCCA Legal Diversity Career Fair will offer a hands-on insider’s perspective of the progress that top firms are making to increase diversity and to advise minority, women and GLBT law students and associates on their legal career options.”

“MCCA is delighted to partner with Vault to offer this wonderful opportunity for organizations seeking to attract talented, diverse candidates and underscore their commitment to building more inclusive workplaces,” said Veta Richardson, Executive Director of MCCA.  “We are enthused that in the midst of a recovering economy, there is such enthusiasm around reaching out to highly-qualified, diverse talent.”

The Vault/MCCA Legal Diversity Career Fair will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with representatives of over 30 legal employers available to meet with candidates.  The event will kick off with a special breakfast where Vault will unveil its 2011 Law Firm Diversity Rankings, the result of its annual Law Firm Associate Survey. 

Earlier this year, more than 15,000 law firm associates rated their employers on a variety of issues, including diversity with respect to minority, women and GLBT attorneys.  Vault representatives will be on hand to reveal these diversity rankings and honor the Top 20 law firms who were the most highly rated by their own associates for their commitment to hiring, retaining and promoting diverse attorneys.

“Vault’s diversity rankings are unique in that it is the law firm associates themselves who rate their employer’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace.  Lawyers are a tough crowd; these firms have cleared a high bar,” noted Brian Dalton, Managing Editor at Vault.com.  “According to its own associates, the top firm ‘treats diversity as a priority’ and ‘is not simply following a trend’—and this is reflected in our rankings.”

Following breakfast, candidates will have the opportunity to meet and present their resumes to hiring partners and recruiters from top law firms, government agencies, and corporate law departments during recruiting hall hours, before and after lunch.  The career fair is designed for minority, female, GLBT, and candidates with disabilities.

In the midst of networking, candidates will have the opportunity to recharge during a keynote lunch featuring Carolyn B. Lamm, President of the American Bar Association.  President Lamm was named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in America by The National Law Journal in 2007 and one of Washington's Top 30 Lawyers by Washingtonian magazine in 2009.  She has worked tirelessly to ensure equal opportunities in law and will speak about her efforts, goals and outlook for the future of diversity in the legal profession. 

Morgan Lewis is the Platinum Sponsor for the Legal Diversity Career Fair and lunch.  “As we gear up for entry-level hiring, sponsoring the Vault/MCCA Legal Diversity Career Fair is one of the ways we will continue to make diversity a priority at Morgan Lewis,” said Firm Chair Francis M. Milone. “Our goal is to attract entry level lawyers from diverse backgrounds who have the skills our clients most value, including hard work, responsiveness, problem solving ability, and a commitment to teamwork.”

The event will also offer opportunities for job seekers to obtain resume and cover letter review and advice from Vault Career Experts and access computer terminals to view Vault's Career Insider and Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Database, a fully-searchable online tool featuring comprehensive data on diversity performance at nearly 300 law firms nationwide.  Registration is still open at http://www.vault.com/legaldiversity.

The Legal Diversity Career Fair will be held as part of a month-long rollout of the Vault.com Law Firm Rankings beginning on July 20, 2010.  The rankings are considered the “bible” for law students, associates, partners and law firm recruiters, and a detailed perspective on the criteria considered by candidates when evaluating law firms.  Please contact Jon Minners to gain access to these rankings as they become available. 

About Vault 

Vault.com is the source of employer and education ratings, rankings and insight for highly credentialed, in-demand candidates.  Vault’s editorial mission is to provide the research-based guidance required by candidates to evaluate professions and industries, educational pathways and select employers.  Vault.com provides the essential criteria to inform career decisions in high-value intellectual property businesses including law, banking, consulting and accounting.

About MCCA

The Minority Corporate Counsel Association advocates for the expanded hiring, promotion, and retention of minority attorneys in corporate legal departments and the law firms that serve them.  MCCA furthers its mission by publishing research on achieving diversity and best practices in the legal profession, honoring innovative diversity programs with its Employer of Choice and Thomas L. Sager awards, and assisting diverse law students through the Lloyd M. Johnson, Jr. Scholarship Program. MCCA’s work has been recognized with awards from the National Minority Business Council, Inc., the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Gay and Lesbian Law Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel. Founded in 1997, MCCA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and also has a Southeast regional office in Atlanta, Ga. For more information, go to mcca.com.

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CONTACT:

Jon Minners

jminners@vault.com

646-792-6205

Gradcracker is a career website for engineering students. The recently produced a "pocket" careers guide for engineering students.

“Gradcracker produced this guide to help engineering students get the best jobs and their employees to get the best applicants. This handy reference tool doesn’t just tell students what to do when looking for a career – it explains the reasoning behind their recommendations."

The guide provides interesting tips and information to help engineering students:

• Find Real jobs – understanding print, press & online media and recruitment agencies.
• Understand what employers want – aims to help the student present themselves as the ideal candidate.
• Stand out from the crowd – outlines what students need to know and what they need to do.

The guide is short and concise and provides a very high-level view of how to land that perfect job. It certainly provides a great checklist for students who are starting their job search.

We recently purchased a mobile phone from Virgin. Our company, McDaniel Partners has been following Richard Branson and Virgin Mobile for years. We have been often awed by the customer experiences he has been able to create. We have presented countless "Virgin Case Studies" to our clients on how to create brilliant customer experiences. So, of course, when we signed up to Virgin Mobile - we expected to be "wowed" by the experience.

“Happiness is Virgin Mobile”. That’s the promise on its’ website. Sounds good, doesn’t it? According to their site, they promise to be the undisputed consumer champion; to “design everything around making our life easier” and they promise “to keep me happy”.

I know the definition of happiness is different for every individual, but imagine that happiness is driven by efficient and effective interactions with a company.

We recently received an e-bill from Virgin. After having tried several times to login to pay the bill, we had to call the call center to speak to an agent. Now remember, all we wanted to do was to provide a credit card number to pay!

Here iss what happened as we tried to contact Virgin Mobile....

We tried getting a “live agent” for two days, before someone finally picked up!

-         First day we waited 25 minutes, then were transferred and waited another 15 prior to hanging up.  

-         The second day, we waited 15 minutes before getting a “live” person!

We imagine that this wouldn’t meet Richard Branson’s definition of a memorable customer experience. Unfortunately, the experience is so negatively memorable that something must be done. We would love to help Richard Branson and his team DELIVER the promise on the website.

What would we do to help Virgin Mobile deliver on its promise? We would:

1. Ensure that answer times are adhered to. We would determine what is preventing happy, engaged employees from answering the phone in a respectable amount of time. Surely, Virgin isn’t cutting corners and understands the importance of dealing with a “live person”?
2. Examine the levels of employee engagement and truly assess whey the employees fail to deliver on the promise.  The agents we spoke to were difficult to understand and lacked the passion we would have expected. We are employee engagement experts and understand that there is often a reason why employees aren’t engaged in their work. We would like to find out why.
3. Determine whether the call center agents actually understand the customer promise and how to deliver it effectively. Long wait times, transferring calls, and unfriendly staff certainly isn’t the way to do it.
4. We would definitely eliminate the use of the “cutesy” messaging during long wait-times (at least until the Virgin Mobile was sure that customer’s wouldn’t hear the messages over and over!)  The repetition of hearing these “cheeky” messages certainly doesn’t drive happiness. Here are some examples, of the cutesy messages heard over and over:

• “Thanks for hanging in there – you’re a real trooper” – we heard this message 7 times.
• “Sorry to keep you busy – it’s super busy here today, hang in there.” – heard this message 7 times.
• “Remember – good things come to those who wait” – What? After hearing this message 6 times, we certainly didn’t feel that way!
• “Thanks for holding on and we will be with you as soon as we can.”

As we thought about the experience we received, we wondered if this was typical of the experience that Virgin Mobile gave to customers. We decided to check what the “web” had to say and unfortunately our concerns were validated. Here is what some customers had to say about Virgin:

• “Virgin Mobile has the worst customer service of any company I have dealt with.”
• “The service is terrible.”
• “Worst phone company ever. I have been with them for 4 years….”

To read more click here.

Given that ultimately it is your customers who are determining your brand, we think Virgin Mobile should focus on delivering on the wonderful promise it says it will deliver!

http://www.contacthelp.com/directory/Phone%20Companies/Cell+Phones/Virgin+Mobile?ListingID=538

We certainly aren’t surprised by results of a report by The Boston Consulting Group and the World Federation of People Management Associations – that 33% of companies are troubled by low employee engagement. In fact, we have been writing consistently about the fact that employee engagement efforts have failed to deliver the desired results.

What is interesting about this latest publication is the fact that executives are identifying what they see as key barriers to an engaged workforce.  

The publication - "Creating a New Deal for Middle Managers: Empowering a Neglected but Critical Group," reveals a global engagement problem that, as the title suggests, is most severe among middle managers, who oversee the majority of employees at most companies. The publication is based on a survey of executives from more than 100 countries and an analysis of BCG's Engaging for Results database, which represents more than 1 million responses from employees about their level of engagement.

According to the publication, executives reported that each of the following six areas were weak at their companies:

• Structured career management that rewards appropriate behaviors
• Clear consequences for individuals not living the company values
• Compensation linked to performance
• Managers acting as "resources," or coaches
• Training and development of employees in people-management practices
• Recognition beyond compensation

While we agree that these are “weak areas” at companies – one must be careful not to simply assume that these should be the six areas of focus at every company. What most companies fail to do is to determine what really drives employee engagement in their company specifically – and therefore risk not making the gains expected.

This new report simply reinforces what many have known for nearly a decade – unless executives really focus on the factors that will truly drive employee engagement – they will fail to reap the promised rewards.

It is easy to say that you are striving to be a high performance culture. But, what does it really mean? Does your company align its business strategy with individual and team objectives and measure performance against these objectives? Does it focus on the learning and development of employees? Does it differentiate between high performance and high potential employees and value both?

As we started to look at the number of companies that want to be high performance cultures, we started to wonder whether organizations really know WHO is a high performer or high potential employee. What is the difference between being a high performer and high potential?

While we know that every organizations claims to know their talent base, if put under pressure could they really identify the “work horses” versus the “stars”? Can they point to those individuals that are either in the wrong job or wrong company – “the underperformers”? And can they pinpoint those employees that are high potential, but are currently not high performers?

While every company claims to know where their employees rank – we thought was important to revisit the whole notion of “high performers versus high potential” employees. Given that every company wants to keep their best talent – it is critical that EVERY company can identify the individuals that fall into the “workhorse” and “star” categories.

What is a workhorse? A “workhorse” would be defined as an employee who is a high performer, but has reached their full potential. These are critical employees and must be rewarded for the fact that they continue to produce effectively.

What is a star? A “star” employee would be defined as a individual that has high potential for the future and is also a high performer. Again, these employees should be nurtured to ensure that they reach their full potential.

As we continue to talk about the importance of employee engagement, we must remind ourselves that our employees will only be engaged if they are presented with opportunities to grow and develop.

So next time you are talking about your high potential and high performance employees, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do these employees have a compelling future?
• Are we providing them with a work environment that is stimulating, engaging?
• Are we giving them the learning and development they require to grow?
• Do we really know what it will take to grow each individual employee, who we claim to value?
• Are we rewarding and celebrating our talent?
• Do we pay for performance and clearly differentiate for the highest performers and the highest potential resources in our organization?

Comments?

Have you heard of Innocent Drinks?

Here is what they say on their website -

“We've always found that there's something about modern living that makes it hard to be healthy. That's why we gave up our jobs over nine years ago and started making innocent smoothies. The idea was to make it easy for people to do themselves some good. And to make it taste nice too. We wanted people to think of innocent drinks as their one healthy habit; like going to the gym, but without the communal shower afterwards.

We call them innocent because our drinks are always completely pure, fresh and unadulterated. Anything you ever find in an innocent bottle will always be 100% natural and delicious -and if it isn't, get on the banana phone and make us beg for forgiveness.”

While this company makes healthy drinks, we think that they might be able to teach every company something about employee engagement….

The company started with a philosophy – they wanted to make life easier and better by making natural things. Their approach to business is to be “Net Positive”. What does that mean? It means they want to leave things better than when they found them. There are five things they have identified in order to be “Net Positive””

-      Make things that are natural and healthy

-      Be ethically responsible

-      Have a lighter footprint

-      Conserve energy

-      Share some of the profits they create

While they admit that this approach to business probably isn’t the reason that people buy their drinks. Rather, people buy them because they are natural, fresher and taste great. So why continue with a strategy that focused on being “Net Positive”? Because it enables the company to attract intelligent, passionate, financially astute and socially aware people and KEEP them!

The key to success is that the best businesses keep great people because their values are aligned. What you want is people that are both financially astute and socially aware – this is the killer combination. If you want great, passionate, talented people to stay – then you have to have a business with integrity.

What are you doing to ensure that you not only attract but keep people that want to work in an ethical company?

Have you ever heard of Toronto-based Michael Bungay Stainer? Michael is the founder and senior partner of Box of Crayons that helps organizations make the leap from good work to great work – a very timely topic in this tough economy.

Michael Stainer is also the author of “Do More Great Work” which shows how to tap into your “inner courage to identify and begin the work that matters, the work that engages and stretches you, the work you were born to do.”

Here are some clues you might be doing bad work:

• At the end of the day, you can't remember what you did all day.
• When you're writing more than a paragraph in response by email.
• When you just do what you're told.
• When everything has exactly the same level of urgency: You don't know why.
• When you cannot connect your work to a larger goal.
• When you can't answer: Who really cares about this?

For more insights, watch the video: