Jefferson Wells International Reviews

Pros

Value proposition is strong - highly experienced people deployed with a business model that provides superior value to the Big 4
Client base is exceptional - top public companies
Commitment of office level personnel to serving the client

Cons

Leadership without a clear vision for the company and lack of understanding of accounting services marketplace
Constant changes to org structure in an attempt to get it right

Advice to Senior Management

1. Revamp the leadership in order to create a clear vision and restore pride.
2. Dont give up on the original vision. There is a real place for a company that can compete with the Big 4. Just get the execution right.

Pros

Sometimes flexible, interesting to work with various clients

Cons

treated like a commodity, no loyalty, company was about making money not retention of good people

Advice to Senior Management

Treat compensation of your consulting staff the way you'd like to be treated. You've eliminated one of advantages of working for Jefferson Wells by slashing salaries and benefits. It's hard to have loyalty to your company when you are treated as a commodity only.

Pros

Variety of clients and the people you work with are usually pretty good. Normally you have everything you need to do your job.

Cons

The pay is inconsistent. Most of the time the pay does not match the skills of the consultant. Assignments can be hit or miss. Management that I dealt with was more concerned with gaining clients that maintaining the ones they had.

Advice to Senior Management

Remember that your employees are your life blood. Treat them as such. It is not fair to your employees to pay them less, just because you decide to low-ball an engagement just to get in the door. If you only get the consultants that are willing to take a low-ball offer, you get less quality individuals, which in turn makes the company look bad.

Pros

You can work full time or part time. Time off is available whenever you need it. Placement at different clients for different projects keeps work interesting.

Cons

You are paid hourly but no paid Vacation or Holiday pay. There is no pay when you are in between projects.

Advice to Senior Management

Consultants should be able to accrue Vacation and Holiday pay based on hours worked.

Pros

Work was interesting and varied.

Cons

Project oriented pay which meant you were not full time.

Pros

Working with multiple clients on interesting projects

Cons

Jefferson Wells International converted almost all of its salaried employees to billable hours.
Increasing cost of benefits
Management does not have the knowledge base requried to run a consulting business
Promotions are not available
Salary increases are non existant

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to be honest and communicate with the employees.

Pros

no pressure, hands off management style

Cons

not a great place for you professionals looking to advance their careers

Pros

Good business model
Fundamentally dedicated and enthusiastic bunch of employees

Cons

Senior management in US incapable of understanding its own business model or its employees
MDs in field offices not allowed to manage or be innovative or cater to their local markets - everything US-driven and US-centric

Advice to Senior Management

Stop being afraid to let perfectly capable MDs manage at local level - they can manage their own bottom line
Seriously think about a career change

Pros

not very many good reasons - compensation is fair - but can't be counted on as they will turn salaried employees into project when business is slow.

Cons

when the economy was bad - they turned all salaried employees into project - absolutely no loyalty toward employees.

Advice to Senior Management

management should respect their professional employees

Pros

Variety of assignments, some top-tier client companie

Cons

Managing Director has extremely poor interpersonal skills and management ability. She has been forced to make more of an attempt to stay in front of the staff due to the high level of dissatisfaction that followed all salaried professionals being switched to project based with no benefits. But, it is obvious she is out of her comfort zone and is simply going through the motions. The Phoenix office has burned through many, many BDMS and in fact, just lost their star BDM (the top performer in the country) to a competitor. That speaks volumes about just how bad things are, and the local Directors have huge egos but little to back it up.

Advice to Senior Management

Get a strong and effective MD who has the interpersonal skills to lead by example. Corporate needs to stop managing simply by the metrics and develop an appreciation for the value of their employees. Treat employees as valued assets instead of something disposable.