Frat-boy culture: un-enjoyable experience if you are not a socialite - Senior Consultant Slalom Employee Review

1.0
Dec 5, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I liked the PAD (director) level leadership, they were intelligent and seemed to genuinely care about their consultants. The analyst program is also great, they show a lot of enthusiasm and really embrace the culture. PAL level was a different story. The Local model is a great change of pace if you’re a long-time consultant, and a key reason I joined. The local lifestyle for a consultant is family-friendly, and is great when you want to come home. Slalom is great if you have an out-going personality, love to drink, party, and mingle. I’m sure a lot of people would find great joy in it, after all a successful consultant should be out-going and social.

Cons

I waited a year or so after I left to finish this review, as my outlook may have been skewed at that time...But being in consulting for long enough I'm now positive that Slalom is not the right place for more reserved consultants - who can be very successful elsewhere. Its also not the right place if you are not hyper-competitive against your own co-workers. I tried, but had a difficult time making close-enough friends here, and this could have been my fundamental flaw. The friends I did make ended up being from the client and not from Slalom. I would suggest new joiners to really “bro out” with leadership, especially at the PAL level as this is where there can be egos…If you’re cool and really liked, you could get by with sub-par performance just because you make everyone happy. Hardcore developer types are always needed, so if you’re a pure coder and developer, you’re still valued as you’re churning the machine. I myself became miserable because it felt I needed to succeed in a popularity contest. A few female co-workers of mine also professed that they were frowned upon as "not a culture fit". The culture Slalom prides itself for is not for everyone. The rating for being the #1 place to work for might be for the majority, as I see a lot of people having fun, but in complete honesty its a very Frat-boy like culture. Girls have to look really good.

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Slalom Response
7y
This is John Tobin. There are some great pieces of feedback here and I will share with the Chicago leadership team. As we have tried to embrace being a much more inclusive environment, these are the types of things we specifically are trying to address. Some of it is having a more-diverse workforce and leadership team, and a lot of the efforts are more to make those that are not outwardly competitive, social or just more introverted feel welcome. This is what "Widening the Circle" is really all about and we need to continue to embrace these concepts. If you have more specifics to share, I would enjoy talking with you should you want to connect - simply email me at johnt@slalom.com. Alternatively, if you’d like to share more feedback anonymously, please consider doing so via this survey: http://slalom.ws/anonsurvey.

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Strong local client base, collaborative team culture, good learning opportunities, and career growth.

Cons

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Pros

•There is an impressive budget, especially for high-level events, ancillary experiences, client giveaways, and premium swag. Management does not hesitate to fund top-notch brand experiences when needed. •The company offers a highly competitive benefits and perks package that remains a strong selling point.

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•The "fiercely human" core value does not match daily operations. Collaboration is routinely replaced by a self-service model of training videos and help articles. •These recurring shifts are designed to manufacture the appearance of fiscal stability for the benefit of external stakeholders and clients, while leaving core operational deficits unaddressed. •Organizational maturity is low. Teams operate in deep silos, the internal tech stack is outdated, and there is a distinct lack of adequate project and event management software.

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