HA can offer all of its clients a three-pronged attack, with the ability to provide expertise in analytics, business and health care on every project team.
However, where the fi rm really shines is its knowledge of the latter of these three—health care. That knowledge includes in-depth information about diseases, expertise in the intricacies of working with the FDA, detailed insight into dealing with complex clinical trials and more. Most of all, HA thrives on its ability to predict or anticipate future trends and events in the health care industry over a 10 to 15 year span.
Staying on top of all the information required to monitor and recommend improvements to the health care industry is no small task. To do so, the fi rm relies on a vast database of more than 5,000 clinicians, researchers and other industry contacts and experts, including PhDs, MDs and industry opinion leaders. In addition, the fi rm maintains a searchable library of treatment methods for diseases, company profi les and licensing deals, all collected from within the industry and maintained since the fi rm was started. The fi rm also regularly funds internal research projects to stay on top of relevant issues, such as regulation, reimbursement, disease management, technology, business development and competitive trends.
No. 1 priority
Despite all HA has to offer its clients, the fi rm believes that its employees have even more to offer to the community. One visit to its website will make it obvious that community service ranks high on its list of priorities. The company devotes one day each quarter for the entire staff to give back in some way. Some of its favorite charities include the American Cancer Society, The Greater Boston Food Bank, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Pan Mass Challenge Kids Ride and the Waltham Fields Community Farm. Meanwhile, Partner and Managing Director Skip Irving serves on the board of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, having previously served the foundation in an advisory capacity.
GETTING HIRED
There’s no question that HA is going for the best the fi eld has to offer—its on-campus recruiting efforts rely almost exclusively on Brown, MIT, Harvard and Dartmouth—and its successes have only served to make the hiring process even more selective. It’s a fairly simple one, though; as one recent hire explains, “There were no special tests or brainteaser questions.”
The interviews themselves are equally straightforward. “We fi rst conduct a phone interview with candidates, typically lasting 30 to 45 minutes, discussing a case question for the bulk of that call,” details a recruitment team member. “Typical in-person interviews are conducted on site with members of our staff from all levels, and are 45 minutes to one hour, of which case questions are a signifi cant part.” In short, “people who are hired are defi nitely incredibly high caliber,” an insider states.
Vault Guide to the Top 50 Management and Strategy Consulting Firms, 2011 Edition Health Advances, LLC
Overall Satisfaction
• “I really love working at Health Advances. The projects that we get are all extremely interesting, there is a lot of opportunity to work on new things and stretch yourself, and the people are great.” – Midlevel consultant
• “It’s a terrifi c fi rm doing the best and most interesting health care strategy work in the industry. There is no other health care strategy fi rm that has as much experience and expertise across therapeutics, devices, diagnostics and services.” – Senior source
• “I think that Health Advances is one of the best jobs for an level position. I still have to perform some monotonous tasks like every entry-level employee, but I am also included in high-entry-level strategy discussion and am able to have client interaction.” – First-year analyst
• “Being both an executive and a mother to two small children is challenging, but at Health Advances I have been able to enjoy both. Over the past eight years I have worked for the fi rm, I have been able to build both a thriving practice and a fulfi lling home life with the help and support of my fellow management and my hard-working teams, who understand the need for this balance.” – Massachusetts executive
Firm Culture
• “Very friendly, young and open environment. Intensely team-oriented projects allow you to really get to know your co-workers.” – Junior staffer
• “Teams meet frequently to brainstorm and upper management is very accessible. It is not uncommon for partners and VPs to work directly with junior members of the team, providing great visibility from the minute you walk in the door. Outside of work, we often meet for dinner, movies or a pick-up frisbee game.” – Analyst
• “Health Advances has a young, energetic, horizontal culture that encourages open dialogue and provides opportunities to those who are willing to reach for them.” – Strategy consultant
• “People are genuinely friendly and supportive, and will get together outside of work. Groups with similar interests fi nd ways to share them with others at the company, such as an early evening on-site exercise program and community service opportunities.” – Boston entry-level
Supervisor Relationships
• “One of the great things about Health Advances is the access to senior management—they are regularly available, attend all company events and are extremely friendly, so you can get to know them. I once spent nine hours in a car with one of the partners, as we drove down to a conference in New Jersey and back in a day, and we chatted a majority of the time, with no awkwardness!” – Junior analyst
• “My supervisors are measured on their ability to mentor. We have a new head of professional development who comes from the consulting ranks and has 100 percent support from the partners to improve our processes for training, staff development, mentoring, performance reviews and overall communication.” – Executive source
• “I have a good working relationship with my supervisor. He’s very thoughtful and provides very actionable feedback on my performance that’s well-considered and detailed.” – Analyst
• “The fi rm assigns you a mentor on day one—quite arbitrarily. You’re able to switch mentors at any point without feeling awkward, if you have a decent reason. I have seen this happen quite a few times at Health Advances, and there aren’t really any questions asked by any party.” – East Coast insider
Interaction with Clients
• “In most cases, clients see us and our teams as peers, which allows us to engage in tough problem solving without fear of pushback or hurt feelings.” – San Francisco senior source
• “As a consultant at HA, I have been given many opportunities to develop relationships with our clients by being the main day-to-day contact for my projects.” – Strategy analyst
• “Even employees at lower levels are encouraged to speak up in client meetings.” – First-year staffer
• “In terms of clients, we do interact well with them, but as a senior analyst, my role is more in presenting a few slides in meetings, and answering any questions or providing some ‘color’—it is always well received, and I am always given the opportunity to speak if it is something I am knowledgeable about.” – Boston analyst
Hours & Pay
Vault’s Verdict: Hours and money, so often sources of fatigue and resentment elsewhere in the industry, are sources of genuine appreciation at Health Advances. The general lack of travel helps consultants strike a remarkable work/life balance.
Work Hours
• “We try to target around 50 hours a week. There are certainly going to be some weeks where you are crunching on a project if there is a big client meeting coming up, and you end up working way more hours, but that is balanced with weeks where I can work 40 to 45 hours because my deadlines are more relaxed.” – Junior source
• “The fi rm makes a real effort to keep hours reasonable and to minimize unnecessary travel. I work fi ve hours less per week on average than I did at Bain, and there are very few nights and weekends.” – West Coast midlevel consultant
• “The company has been great about working with me on a more fl exible schedule, keeping my hours down now that I have a small child at home.” – Strategy consultant
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• “HA demands top-notch work and excellent output. I enjoy my output and am satisfi ed by meeting the demands of clients.” – Analyst
Work/Life Balance
• “Even if I do some work on the occasional weekend, it is on my schedule—I haven’t had to cancel dinner plans, tennis matches, ski trips or anything of the sort because of my job.” – Senior consultant
• “Health Advances is sensitive to outside commitments. Last year, I spent four months training for a marathon, which required me to run long distances in the morning. My teams were aware of my schedule and accommodated, scheduling meetings later in the morning or afternoon.” – Junior source
• “There is defi nitely room for individuals to carve out an appropriate work/life balance, though it requires being mindful and proactive in one’s approach. With little emphasis on face time, consultants with families or signifi cant outside time commitments can create space in their schedules that can be made up later.” – Analyst
• “I go through spurts when it is exceptionally busy, or I have a challenging project, and during those periods I do need to compromise. However, the lack of regular travel here is a big plus.” – Executive-level source
Travel Requirements
• “Unlike a number of fi rms, Health Advances tries to avoid working at the client site unless it would add to the project. This works great for the employees, who generally travel to the client one to three times per project for a day.” – Experienced consultant
• “We travel very rarely—only for important meetings with clients, at the beginning, middle, and end of projects, or for a related conference.
These are usually quick day trips, which is nice because it allows me to have time at home, make plans with friends and have a better work/life balance.” – Boston consultant
• “I love not traveling much—it makes it so much more exciting and enjoyable, rather than painful, when it does happen.” – First-year analyst
• “I rarely have an overnight stay.” – Junior analyst
Compensation
• “I am very happy with my compensation. It was comparable to what my other friends are receiving at bigger-name consulting fi rms.” – First-year analyst
• “Compensation is extremely competitive—at least at the analyst and senior analyst level. The company does provide a signing bonus, and there is an annual bonus as well, based on personal performance and the company’s performance.” – Midlevel staffer
• “We even got bonuses the past couple of years in the terrible economy. We all share in fi rmwide profi tability, so we share a common goal and the reward from our hard work.” – Senior consultant
• “I am generally satisfi ed with my compensation; however, there isn’t a lot of visibility into salary policies and benchmarks.” – Junior analyst
Professional Development
Vault’s Verdict: Any training program that doubles as a recruiting incentive is, well, doubly good. HA’s is just that—intensive, informative and, most importantly, truly effective.
Formal Training
• “Health Advances has the most extensive offi cial training program of any company that I have ever seen. It ensures that individuals with diverse academic backgrounds (ranging from hard sciences to business) can truly start off on the same foot when they begin their career.” – Experienced source
• “There is an excellent offi cial training program, a chance for individuals to use their new knowledge on their own project and a chance to shadow a case before they are staffed. Most important, though, is that everyone really wants to help everyone else succeed.” – Strategy consultant
• “I was initially attracted to Health Advances in part due to the strength of their extensive new hire training program. “ – Boston analyst
• “I loved that I didn’t feel like I was just thrown into things without any background.” – Entry-level respondent
Promotion Policies
• “It is not up or out. In fact, all the more senior members of the organization, except the founders, were promoted from within. You do not need to have an MBA to advance. Generally, I am pretty confi dent that I know where I stand with regard to a promotion.” – Senior source
• “The promotion policy is fairly transparent at Health Advances. With the newer review format we adopted a year ago, we have quantitative measures of our performance, and mentors are pretty good at explaining what is necessary for you to move to the next step.” – East Coast Vault Guide to the Top 50 Management and Strategy Consulting Firms, 2011 Edition
Health Advances, LLC
opportunity-based, depending on specifi c case work.” – Midlevel consultant
Diversity
Vault’s Verdict: There’s a unique equality on display at Health Advances: The majority of staff, from analysts to partners, is female. Minorities and men are well represented, too, but their presence is overshadowed by the impressive advances made by the fi rm’s women in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
Diversity Issues With Respect to Women, Minorities, and GLBTs
• “The fi rm has more female employees than male employees (two of the partners are female), which illustrates that women do not encounter any prejudice at this fi rm. In fact, the upper-level women bring in a large chunk of the fi rm’s business.” – Entry-level consultant
• “There are defi nitely no biases on hiring or promotion. Women and minorities are very well represented at all levels. We’re very respectful of individual diversity.” – Senior source
• “The company is very fl exible regarding maternity (and has a fairly standard plan for the amount of leave that is paid), and the company is very accepting of minorities and GLBT individuals (considering we have many individuals from both categories on staff).” – Boston midlevel consultant
• “Efforts on diversity are excellent, but achieving GLBT diversity is a challenge for such a small fi rm.” – Business advisor
Overall Business Outlook
Vault’s Verdict: The recession was a low point in Health Advances’ 18-year history, but the fi rm was able to pull itself out, and insiders are confi dent about the fi rm’s future prospects.
Overall Business Outlook
• “We seem to be in a very strong position as the economy turns around. Management wisely took advantage of the job situation to hire some very talented people. Carefully managing costs and nurturing client relationships enabled the organization to avoid any layoffs, so people feel very good about the situation.” – Senior consultant
• “We have a tremendous reputation, broad client base and contacts all across the industry from 18 years of great work.” – Boston insider
• “While the economic situation has impacted our business, we continue to get calls from past clients, and referrals to new clients, which suggests that as things improve we will see our business pick up as well.” – San Francisco senior
• “There is some competition due to other consultants being laid off and going freelance, but Health Advances is at an advantage due to our known quality and experience.” – Junior consultant
Confi dence in Firm Leadership
• “Our partners have incredible experience in the industry and continue to make very smart business decisions. They are genuinely committed to the people here, above anything else, which permeates all aspects of our work environment.” – Analyst
• “The senior management team has an excellent mix of executives with diverse backgrounds in the health care industry, allowing for rich expertise within sectors and collaboration across sectors.” – East Coast staffer
• “The partners set the tone through their own behavior to promote a highly collegial atmosphere based on mutual respect, and have demonstrated time and again their commitment to the people in the fi rm.” – Entry-level consultant
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820 West Jackson Boulevard Suite 525
Chicago, Illinois 60607 Phone: (312) 655-0826 Fax: (312) 655-8334 www.strategos.com
LOCATIONS
Chicago, IL (HQ) Amsterdam Lisbon London Munich São Paulo
PRACTICE AREAS
Enterprise Innovation Capacity • Growth Strategy • Leadership
& Organization • Management & Open Innovation • New Market & Product Development
THE STATS
Employer Type: Division of Innovaro Ticker Symbol: INV (NYSE, Alternext) Lead Director: Peter Skarzynski 2009 Employees: 38
2008 Employees: 35
2009 Revenue: $10.8 million (Innovaro) 2008 Revenue: $13.2 million
STRATEGOS
23
PRESTIGE RANKING
UPPERS
• “Out-of-this-world clients”
• “Minimal politics”
DOWNERS
• “Strong dependence on the pipeline”
• “Slow fi rm growth limits career opportunities”
EMPLOYMENT CONTACT
Email [email protected] or visit the “Join Us” section of the fi rm’s website