PRTM Management Reviews

Pros

Small firm and Directors (Partners) are easily accessible.
No politics!
Have better flexibility in choosing areas of interests.
Faster career growth.

Cons

Very limited training.
Global strategy needs to be accelerated.
Investments in new IP or industry issues very low.
Knowledge sharing is very preliminary.

Advice to Senior Management

Build a brand and invest more in developing new IP.
Invest in training for employees.
Have a more aggressive global strategy and push Partners to sell outside their comfort zones.

Pros

Direct interaction with Directors.
Good client base.

Cons

High imphasis on being on road even if the project doesn't need it.
Lack of training
Lack of flexibility in choosing projects

Advice to Senior Management

Spend on marketing if you really want to compete with the big 3 (McKinsey, BCG & Bain)
Develop IP that is cut throat.

Pros

- Great People
- Most Directors understanding of work/life balance
- High Profile Clients
- Good Client exposure even for analysts

Cons

- Brand Image (PTRM??)
- Small Business Mentality (Some Directors are cheap -- rather get an apartment than stay in a decent hotel to save $10)
- No investment in training or marketing activities
- Even though the firm sells innovation work, there is no focus on consulting innovation within itself

Advice to Senior Management

Please start thinking like a major management consultant firm rather than a mom/pop consulting shop.

Pros

Relatively relaxed atmosphere
Directors/Partners are usually very approachable and are ready to help
Decent salary and benefits
Smaller company and usually you don't get lost in the crowd

Cons

No well defined strategy for the global offices (esp. Indian office)
Company with limited IP and the partners just want to continue doing what they were doing for the past 10-15 years.
Not willing to invest in people (training etc) and not willing to change its strategy to the realities of the region
No 360 degree feedback.
No structured feedback processes during/after engagements

Advice to Senior Management

Hire more experienced principals, VP's and directors who have contacts in the regions that they are working
Clearly explain the strategy of PRTM (what they intend to do in the next 3-5 years) in their global offices

Pros

Great, smart people, very little politics. Given the industry is management consulting, Directors try to manage work/life and travel as much as possible. Culture is very much about getting things done and not doing much busy work or face time.

Cons

Not investing in two key assets of a consulting firm: i.e. intellectual property and people
- No new IP or really breakthrough thinking on any practice area. All projects are becoming just general project managers but at high hourly rate. Difficult to sell new projects without IP that makes PRTM special and consultants are not learning anything unique to the firm.
- Very little training and development, though they have recently done some interesting training on the east coast
- Very little women diversity, especially on east coast. West coast is different given plethora of clients in Silicon Valley which can reduce travel requirements and help work/life balance when women want to start a family. Gov practice in DC area may provide opportunity, but still no female Directors and few Principals
- No 360 review

Advice to Senior Management

Need to invest in IP assets and people. PACE is how old now and while some people are assigned to mind that store, they aren't given any time or resources to do groundbreaking thinking or research.

Pros

PRTM is a very results-oriented Firm with a good reputation with clients (who know them). Directors are very hands-on and have strong technical, functional and industry expertise. There are some politics of course but overall a decent work environment.

Cons

PRTM does not have the branding and investment appetite to be a major management consulting firm with global scale. Thirty years and still without the scale to compete head on with the big boys. Growth in 2010 and 2011 will be flat or moderate at best. The result: longer hours, poor work-life balance, fewer promotions and limited upside for non-Directors.

Advice to Senior Management

You need to be more transparent with employees and adopt a longer-term view if you really want to grow the business.

Pros

Small firm - plenty of interaction with partners and client. The better you deliver on projects, and the more you sell, the faster you progress. Deep subject matter expertise in product development, supply chain, and Voice of the Customer. The firm is well respected by the clients, and those with whom we work.

Cons

Minimal - if any - coaching, training, or development outside of pure project delivery. Staffing model is such that there is no down time after a project. 60 hour weeks are the minimum expected.

The 4:1 staff to partner ratio is coupled with a top-heavy project staffing structure. It is very difficult to perform business development activities in addition to delivering high quality client work - there are very few consultants and associates to help with projects, and often partners are cranking out slideware late at night with the teams.

Decent salary, but weak bonus structure.

Emphasis on being at the client site M - Th, even if project does not require it. The firm places significant emphasis on "face time"

Advice to Senior Management

There needs to be emphasis on developing staff to be the next generation of leaders. A 100% staffing target makes it difficult to develop staff outside of direct project work.

Pros

PRTM provides great opportunity to work with senior leaders in the firm as the partner (i.e., Director) to consultant ratio is significantly lower than that of other firms.

If you enjoy operations and different aspects of how to improve how companies run, this is the place to be.

In addition, there is no formalized "up-or-out" policy allowing for formal fexibility - which can be good and bad.

Cons

One of the higher partner profitability firms in management consulting with a small pyramid (consultants per partner) means several things at PRTM:

- Lowe(er) wages for non-partners
- High billable targets for consultants (leaves little slack capacity for firm growth)
- Few non-consulting resources (e.g., no research staff)
- Little/no investment in formal consultant training
- Little/no budget for team building
- A gerneral low-cost approach to everything

This makes it difficult for PRTM to attract top talent and grow effectively into new areas. However, PRTM tries to compensate by not having a formal "up-or-out" policy.

Advice to Senior Management

It is important to realize the value of marketing and brand recognition beyond revenue generated per dollar invested.

Pros

Solid senior management, good communication with rest of firm
Fiscally very responsible; realistic about smart growth
Excellent system for job performance feedback
True global reach
Opportunity to learn across multiple industries and practices
Very good reputation among most clients

Cons

Over-inflated egos and lack of social skills among some Directors- can be condescending
Brutal travel schedules and work hours for most consultants, especially Associates and Managers
Support Staff (finance, marketing, HR, etc.) often 2nd-class citizens
Performance reviews don't usually equate into salary increases; raises only upon promotion.

Advice to Senior Management

PRTM is a great firm to learn and gain experience in multiple disciplines, industries, and geographies. Very smart people that seem to truly care about making a difference and delivering excellent work. The consulting world is naturally hard on those that start families (which makes it very male top-heavy) and want to have more of a personal life. Very well-managed firm. Some will embrace the travel and 24/7 work culture. Others will eventually hit the wall or a ceiling in their particular area and move on. I liked it there overall.

Pros

Great atmosphere and people to work with.
Smart directors that are passionate about their areas of expertise.
Down to earth people that are not overly concerned with face time or status - more concerned with high quality work

Cons

Dispersed offices make it a challenge to network with Directors.
Difficult to balance the NBD work with ongoing projects.
Directors very busy on the projects with limited time for NBD on new clients.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue investing in current employees to populate future Directors of the Firm