senior consultant

consultant

analyst

manager

director

North Highland

North Highland (NH) is a consulting firm, so a typical day depends heavily on the specific client engagement.  NH typically fields a team of people (with one or more team leaders depending on the scale of the effort) who are supported by Upper Management/Executive Management.   It is a very collaborative and supportive approach that helps ensure topflight deliverables.

The firm has a comprehensive training program that allows its employees to self-manage.  There is mandatory training, but you also have the ability to take other courses at will.   The volume of options is huge.

NH puts a lot of emphasis on culture.  They have one of the most advanced DEI programs you are likely to see - and it is incredibly helpful in that it provides its staff with great advice for effectively working with people from all walks of life.   

Work-life balance is tricky in the consulting business, but NH does this pretty well.  Most consultants work at a single client 40 hours a week.    There are some additional hours required for NH related activities, proposals and internal projects.  You can do more at your option.   Like many consulting firms, the staff has a great deal of flexibility in choosing the time they perform their work - it was very common for people to take time mid-day to do life-supporting activities.   

The firm has high expectations for itself and is always working to better itself.  Consequently, they are almost always making significant changes.   Many of the changes are iterative, but some of them are seismic.  What does not change is the commitment to the client - that is always a high bar.

The most challenging thing about working here are the opportunities.   You will likely end up doing something for a client you never thought you would be doing and doing it at the highest level.   This is not unusual in the consulting world and it's often why people like this professional.   You are going to grow and learn.





Typical day is 9 hours, staff augmentation like, very project management focused. Feels like a staffing company more than a consultancy.
The firm is very friendly and family like. A strong 'people' culture that values relationships and tenure more than competence/expertise.
The company has grown significantly since its founding in early 90s by three founders. Now it's around 1,000 US consultants. However, the leadership that brought it here won't get the company where it wants to go.
Hardest part of the job is all the administrivia that takes place since it doesn't have a very strong shared services function and lacks the robust knowledge management and cumulative expertise that big firms have developed over time.
The most enjoyable part of the job are the people. Very nice. But it feels like folks who couldn't hack it at a big company, not experienced folks that no longer wanted to work at big firms (or didn't want to anymore because they couldn't hack it).

North Highland takes a different approach to consulting. They work with large, global organizations across a variety of service areas, but tend to "be sticky" within a client account and strive in using local consultants whenever possible. This limits the burden of travel, and allows for the challenges and experiences of consulting without the tax of being away for home on an ongoing basis. The company is 100% employee-owned, emphasizing a strong family and team-oriented approach to management. You will experience a wide variety of projects, as being no-travel/low-travel means you work on what's available with the companies in your metro area, and don't fly to the next project in a very-focused vertical.

The firm's strategic direction keeps changing. Translating strategy to execution in local markets has been terrible (perspective from west coast markets). Disconnect between headquarters and west coast.

Many management shuffles result in an unsteady pipeline and not enough work. Layoffs are very common, not a stable job.

The best way to survive is become one of the 'in-crowd' and you  have a better chance of staying indefinitely barely working and producing no results.

NH is great if you are looking for: work/life balance with a consulting firm, a job that doesn't tax you mentally, looking for just a 'job'
NH is bad if you are looking for - career, personal development, engaging projects, top-tier co-workers (anyone good has already left or is finding the right opportunity to leave)

I love North Highland! I went to a small high school, a small college, and then went to work for North Highland, which is a rather large, rather well-known company. It was exactly the experience I was looking for. More importantly, having been in sports all my life, team dynamics are very significant to me, and that’s what stood out the most when I started working here. At my last job, the “team” I was on, was not a team at all. We all worked individually, and there was little to no collaboration or investment in our other team members’ success. But here, I work closely with my coworkers, and I feel like I am an essential part of the company’s success on a day-to-day basis. As scary as that is, it’s very rewarding to know my direct impact on projects. This group does great work, but we also have a good time in and out of the office. I think the office environment and my coworkers are my favorite parts about working here.

Overall quite pleased.  Executives make some confusing choices (e.g. cleaning out the bench during Covid regardless of skillset), but the strong culture, solid middle management, and emphasis on WLB without disrupting quality of work (much) helps.  I wish our strategy and CX practices were bigger.  Internal processes are so-so, but nothing outright bad.  I'm noticing some things getting better (e.g. research support and ability to get new tools for a project).  Not so interested in PMO and Change work though.  Consistent trade-off at all levels will be healthy WLB (think ~45 hours with no overnight travel), sense of collaboration, and no unwanted travel at the expense of lower compensation and worse benefits.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Great people to support my contract position.
Payroll is a bit fussy with time submission due to time zone differences and available hours worked during the week. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Payroll is a bit fussy with time submission due to time zone differences and available hours worked during the week. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I was a remote worker. We had a few social gatherings the were fun to attend. I felt like a team member and my work was appreciated 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Difficult to say since I was a remote contractor

Everyone at North Highland is just wonderful. They have a great management team and also dedicated employees.
The company is quality driven and dedicated to hard work but also understands that their employees have a personal life outside of work. They are very reasonable with appointment and PTO time; they trust their employees are responsible when requesting time off.
Benefits were better than I expected, especially the 401K plan, which was one of the best I have encountered throughout my career.
I would not say my job had difficult parts, I would rather refer to them as challenges. I love a challenge and the work I did at North Highland offered many, which I am confident I conquered all of them. Challenges make the job more interesting and I loved overcoming them.

NH has a cook off of the employees & their efforts are judge by the employees
  I have learned that all people have some type of quirks and you flow 
  with them
  Management's attitude is very conservative, they are open to 
  consult with you regarding any challenge that you might have
  NH's culture is the collaborative spirit & everyone is able to come to 
  the table, our philanthropy approach with non-profit organizations, 
  etc.
  the hardest part of the job is the long drive to & from work
  the most enjoyable part of my job is the constant meeting of NEW 
  people, whether it is new employees, Client meetings, vendors, 
  contractors, and affiliates

Company is moving away from local office model to a national capability-based model. While local work is still often available, consultants are required to travel to distant client sites as necessary if they are on the bench. Consultant utilization is low and there is great pressure to get on billable projects or face layoff. Many projects fall into the staff augmentation category that lack true consulting work. The minimum number of billable hours expected of consultants is completely unreasonable. The firm is under financial pressure and has adopted a "management by spreadsheet" approach. Employee morale is generally poor.

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