Vault’s Verdict

Implement Consulting Group offers a unique culture that puts employees at the center of everything. Small wonder, then, that insiders seem happy with their lot, describing an open environment that is built to give consultants the ability to design their own futures. Despite the high degree of autonomy, some insiders note that it can feel unstructured, while the promotion model can be challenging, especially for those who are new to the firm and/or industry.

Quality of life and compensation at Implement are similarly well-regarded by insiders, with a lot of autonomy and flexibility to balance work and life. Base salaries are on par with comparable firms, with a solid bonus structure and stock options. All in all, this is a firm that will appeal to those who are happy to carve their own paths without a ton of formal training.

Firm Culture

“Be prepared to drive your own journey - do what is right for you and what is beneficial for the organization, there will be no boundaries for growth.”

“Consulting culture where people are put at the core. Implement's approach is hardly standardized, we work on co-development of solutions with our clients. There is no standard development journey at Implement, every consultant is empowered to craft and tailor its own path and Implement grants the tool to support every single journey.”

“Everything we do is transparent (sales, invoicing, project evaluations, customer satisfaction, etc.). You need to be prepared for this culture to thrive.”

“If you are engaged, motivated and ready to find your unique way of thriving this is a good place for you; if you look for detailed processes, exact standards and a laid-out path you might get lost.

If you are open to truly connect with people, have a lot of social events, have an open personality and not afraid to be in very unstructured environment, this is the best place for you to be!

If you desire to live with personal responsibilities in a caring collective - please join.”

“Prepare to work with awesome smart-minded people who will welcome you with open arms, but also prepare to take on a lot of responsibility early on.”

“The company does not use terms like divisions or departments. Instead they are called Practices and CoPs (Community of Passions). The passion is the key. With no passion, to CoP - it will die. And some CoPs will be closed, where there are no more passionate people to drive the subject. Then new CoPs pop-up, which shows the company is agile to adapt to the market on what is hot, and where the needs are, along with the required skills to solve the tasks. So PASSION is the key - and it shows throughout the organization.”

Quality of Life

“Depends on type of projects you are engaged in however I have managed to find a balance that is perfect for having small kids. I am free to plan my own work with clients as long as I make clients happy and bring value to them. I do believe it can be challenging for juniors to set their own boundaries.”

“I believe that too many of the partners and the senior people in Implement are convinced that you have to work many hours to be a success in Implement. If you state that you wish to work ‘only’ 40 hours a week they will smile and let you know that consulting is no 9-16 job. I think that it is a very old school way of looking at consulting and not the way to attract new talent from gen Z and experienced talent from gen Y who will insist on working in balance with spending time with their children.”

"No up or out and you actually have a choice to say no to projects if you feel overloaded, which I think is rare in this industry. However, bonus payments will be lower and you will have longer between promotions. A lot of flexibility in daily schedule and in regard to vacations. Overall, I believe IM has one of the most flexible and fit for life cultures in the consulting industry on a global level - truly Scandinavian.”

“The culture is really where Implement shines, the culture of ‘fit for humans’ is something that is permeated in everything from performance measures to choosing your own leader and flexibility/autonomy in assignments. The flexibility, however, adds a lot of weight on your shoulders as an individual because you are expected to find your own way.”

“We have a huge amount of autonomy and flexibility, meaning that I can choose how and when I work. I have leaders that help me balance my workload and who challenge my priorities when I tend to over-work. I've never tried that before. The downside is the business model, where my hours = price, so the incentive is to work many hours.” 

Compensation

“Base salary is on par with most T2 and B4 consultancies, but IM offers a solid bonus for Mid-level and upwards (20-30% of base salary) + employee shares yielding appr. 60k DKK/year + a bi-annual adjustment in share price to benefit from when you leave the company (this year it went up almost 50%). Very low pension is a minus.”

“For entry level we do not pay as much as the big four, however that quickly changes as you get bonus and buy stock (everyone allowed t by stock after 1 year). I am not aware if discrimination in compensation, however I do not have full transparency.”

“I think we have a great compensation model. First, Implement is fully employee-owned, spread across all consultants and partners. A fixed amount goes into partner compensation and the rest is split out across the org. I have NEVER had any feeling that people ‘at the top’ are reaping all awards - that's the best aspect.

I honestly can't pinpoint the worst aspect. Maybe buy-in for our stock options? But that's also covered in a way employees are guaranteed easy and cheap loans for best employee ROI.”

“No differentiation for junior consultants (part-time employees) when joining as full-time in comparison to employees joining full-time without prior experience.”

“Salary is fair and competitive. Bonus structure is transparent and fair across levels.

We operate as an internal marketplace where your next engagement comes as a result of your individual brand (competencies, sectors, how much people want to work with you). Therefore, people that consistently deliver high-quality work and are easy to get along with generally have good options for future assignments, which is then reflected in their billable time, and ultimately, their compensation. 

The ability to sell work and get credit for it is not just limited to Partners. Pretty much anyone (at any level) can sell work if they have the network and client confidence.”

Career Development

“Excellent care, support, and coaching. A great culture of personal growth and development. The proclaimed values are actually lived by. Promotions and evaluations are broadly discussed in a serious and appreciative way. Personal responsibility and pro-activeness are important in this high-performance environment.”

“Lots of internal training. Choosing your own leader. With a bit of experience, you can basically follow your mastery and choose the practice / area you love to work in. Big focus on diversity. Very human-centric consulting company - a wonderful, (positively) challenging place to work and grow. You have to see it to believe it.”

“Our company is not yet expanded with local offices globally. However, we have some offices in Europe and one in the US. Global projects are increasing in Implement, meaning that international experience is easily obtainable in Implement.”

“Promotion processes in Implement are great, easily understandable, and obtainable if one wishes to do so by making the effort required. The promotion processes in Implement cater to psychologically safe space, as we do not have a pyramid setup that would put unnecessary pressure on people to move up or out.

As an employee, you pave the way yourself, which entails that you are able to pursue what is interesting, and not what is interesting to a leader. That creates happy employees and the best development possible.”

“We prioritize to bring the company together on a monthly basis, we go together on strategy tour each year to connect and create ownership of our strategic direction, we have our own university with highly skilled trainers who 365 days a year train our consultants, we have Summer University kick-starting each year to nurture our mastery and give us new inspiration for the year to come, we have specific learning journeys targeted different groups, consultant journey, journey preparing to be a partner (catalysing transformation), leadership program to develop the best leaders. Implement is a place for both personal and professional growth, and a place where you make friends with your colleagues because all are just so tremendously nice people.”

Community Engagement

“As part of the ‘First 100 day’ program my employer has a trip of 3 days, where 2 are spent walking 10 km each day in rough terrain. This program I am not able to participate in, since I am partially disabled due to a knee operation, that has given me an artificial knee. I can't walk such distances. There is currently no alternative to this highly profiled activity, that should give so much to those who participate. Here there is room for ‘improvement’ for people with a high or lower degree of physical disability. An employee in a wheelchair would also not be able to join such an activity.”

“Great efforts taking place within D&I, both for promoting women, being a parent, ethnicity and general diversity in personality ad background.”

“I do not think that any one individual here are against any minorities, but this company is very much focused on the network as a driver for hiring new talent. Therefore, if people do not expose their networks to, say 50/50 % men/women, they will often be more inclined to think of men as new talent. It is a process that takes time but I am sure that in 10 years time, the diversity efforts will be deemed a success.”

“Our structure has kept women out of our highest partner level. We are testing several initiatives to counter that and to include more partner types in the criteria. We are a quite 'white' Scandinavian-based culture and still have a way to go with more ethnic diversity.”

“Very inclusive work environment and everybody is encouraged to bring their whole self to work, no discrimination of any kind and high efforts to support individual groups in their efforts to make the company an even better place to work. Yes, everybody had the same access to high quality work and promotion opportunities.”

Business Outlook

“Best: We grow with our clients and attract a lot of bright people (all the new recruits are so bright and fast. I love working with them).

Worst: The world economy could send the whole industry in to a plummeting fall. But even if that should happen, I have confidence that we would somehow manage to fall not so much."

“Implement offers something different from other established management consultancies. I believe there is a great potential for the ‘Scandinavian way of consulting’ in big markets like the US, Germany etc, and we now have the base to grow from with more offices in big markets.” 

“One word: great. We do things differently from the Big 4. That's our main proof point but of course also our main challenge - we continue trying to build up capacities across the board and sprinkle the uniqueness of Implement Consulting Group's approach into it. I have total confidence that we are on a very good track for the future.”

“The general economic outlook in Europe and the world will likely put quite a big pressure on many management consultancies in the near- to mid-term future. However, employee morale is generally very high and customer satisfaction likewise.”

“We are growing slowly but surely. There have been many hires in the last few months which only indicated the forward movement of the company and its mission to grow. We might not be very well known outside of Denmark but are slowly creating and building a brand that could, at one point, become part of the bigger picture competition through demonstrating the human ability, motivation and personal passion behind every professional.”

Hiring Process

“Call back within 24 h from interview providing feedback and answer. Ideal candidate fits the culture and is very driven and wants to continue to learn. The ideal candidate is a people person combined with a data mindset.”

“I believe the company is seeking responsible professionals who are honest and transparent. People who manage their workload well and like getting involved in opportunities outside of just their own job description. People who work well with people. It's a performance culture.”

“The interview process is much more about getting a feeling of the candidate's personality, than testing the candidate's skills. After all, it is much easier/faster to learn how to draw a matrix and use a method toolbox than to learn how to be a empathic and kind colleague.”

“They are always seeking someone smarter than the rest. This idea is very smart and allows for the average of the firm to increase all the time. Both the interviews and callback process are very good with a short time to answer.”

“Very well structured process with a focus on giving potential candidates the best experience. We look for people who are first and foremost nice people to work with, that has a sound attitude towards life. Of course we also look for high performers with relevant education.”

Interview Questions

“Interview questions are around teamwork and personal aspects. But also not only questioning the candidate but allowing time for the candidate to ask loads of questions to us. It is an interview that goes both ways.”

“For regular consultants, to senior, to managers, to engagement managers, you have to pass one informal interview, three formal interviews and three tests. You can get cases on all three formal interviews, which can be e.g., market sizing cases, market equilibrium cases, brain teasers, etc.”

“My case was a bit special, given that I was hired as a Junior Consultant for half a year and then an entry-level consultant afterwards. However, I felt that the questions regarding the cultural fit between Implement and myself were the toughest one as one must understand what Implement is all about prior to the interviews - otherwise you won't pass on to the next round. Implement is serious about nurturing and caring for its people and ensuring that the right people arrive at the firm rather than solely looking at competencies.”

“We have an extensive hiring process with tests and meeting 6 consultants in total of three rounds. The main focus is to learn whether or not the person is a good fit: who are they, what do they value, why are they interested in the company, etc. It's a holistic approach.”

“We start with a brain-teaser in the first interview, e.g. ‘How many surfaces are visible on an 8x8x8 cube?’. In the second interview, we have cases tailored to the practice that the interviewee will be working in, often based on real cases.”