BrazilWavestone named best consulting firm to work for in France
Wavestone has been named third best employer in France, thanks to reviews from its employees. The firm was the only consultancy in the top 25 companies to work for in country.
Wavestone is an international consultancy that provides connected thinking, insight and capability to industry leading organisations. The firm was formed after consultancy Solucom acquired Kurt Salmon, with the two unified companies rebranded as Wavestone in 2016. The French-origin firm today has a team of around 2,500 employees spread across four continents, with offices in major European centres, including Paris, Brussels and London.
This year, Wavestone, which offers clients strategic business transformation and strategy implementation services, has been named as the third best company and third best consulting firm to work for in France, in a new ranking by employment site Glassdoor.
Having originally arrived from the US, Glassdoor is a platform where employees can review their employers, either using their real name, a pseudonym, or anonymously. The platform has a variety of systems in place to verify the reviews and prevent spam, while the dimensions staff can evaluate include aspects like career opportunities, culture and values, the quality of management, work/life balance, satisfaction over salary and working conditions. Glassdoor launched across Europe in 2015, and has since gained a strong foothold in the online landscape for career orientation and recruitment.
Based on all ratings given until November 2017, Glassdoor populated a list of the 25 best employers for six countries: the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany and The Netherlands.
Best companies to work for in France
In France, the top rankings, which were determined by averaging out scores to a single five-star rating, include large multinationals like hotel chain Hilton, technology giants Microsoft and IBM, telecom titans Orange, and several smaller businesses that stand out from crowd. Criteo, a digital design firm for retailers, topped the list, while digital ERP systems giant SAP ranked second, scoring 4.4 and 4.3 respectively. Wavestone meanwhile followed in third place – following in the footsteps of CEO Pascal Imbert, who last year ranked third in Glassdoor’s ranking of top CEO's in France – scoring 99% positive reviews.
Wavestone itself received a score of 4.3 out of 5, and along with IBM, is one of the only representatives for the professional services industry on the list. Last year, only EY made the ranking, but they failed to repeat that feat this time out. That is despite France hosting a booming consulting market, posting promising financial results over the past year. The French consulting market grew 8.5% to €5.9 billion over the past 12 months, in its best spell since the global financial crisis of 2008. Regardless of that performance, Wavestone remained one of the very few professional services firms to retain top relations with their employees.
Commenting in a review, one employee praised Wavestone’s "unique corporate culture in the world of consulting.” The Parisian consultant further said the group had an “outstanding culture for a French consulting firm. Wavestone understand that a happy and balanced consultant is not incompatible with performance and progression but that there is instead a virtuous circle.”
Another current advisor – a Senior Consultant also based in Paris – remarked, “Excellent work dynamic thanks to the recruitment of talented young graduates,” before commending the “360°” vision of the firm's initiatives implemented by partners.
Other reviews also celebrated the wages and remuneration of the company, its opportunities for progression and training, and, once more, the firm’s CEO. Another said, “Salaries are good and in line with the market. Good atmosphere, possibility to grow in responsibilities and an open culture among management and employees.”
In the Netherlands and Germany, consulting industry members Bain & Company topped the list of both nations, outperforming every other organisation with a score of 4.9 in Netherlands and 4.7 in Germany.
