SMS Management & Technology Reviews in Australia

Current Employee – been working at SMS Management & Technology full-time for more than a year

Pros – Lots of different placements to choose from.

Cons – Sometimes have to compete against other quality consultants for great gigs.

Former Employee – worked at SMS Management & Technology full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Have some very capable people and consultants. Some good mentors and one can learn a lot if you work on a project with them.

Cons – Make you work very hard and long hours. Assume everyone can work hard and do not take into account that some have young families.

Advice to Senior Management – Could do to support the junior staff, especially on tricky projects and difficult clients.

Current Employee – been working at SMS Management & Technology full-time for more than a year

Pros – Flexible
Good range of clients and projects

Cons – No Hierarchy
Limited career opportunities
Limited training and development

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at SMS Management & Technology full-time

Pros – Calibre of consultants can be reasonable, but not much better than the law of averages would dictate. There is indeed the collegiate atmosphere you'll find in the brochures - unfortunately the common bond uniting most consultants tends to be a general dissatisfaction with management, career direction and salary.

Would recommend this company to graduates or those new to the Australian job market who wish to gain experience in new fields and will not be put off by the lower than average pay.

Cons – From my experience, the management were out of touch, happy to brand anybody who did not tow the party line as "moaners". Pressure is regularly applied to practice and account managers to stick consultants into whatever role they can, without due regard for skills match or the wishes of the consultant.

Turnover should be important to every company, but if the focus is solely on the bottom line to the detriment of all else, it can make for a depressing experience as an employee. From my perspective in the Melbourne office, the CEO and ivory tower mob kept talking about "delivering vision" and solutions, yet most of the consultants felt like low paid contractors, enduring an annual self-appraisal process which made no difference except ensuring the HR manager got a healthy paycheck.

I do understand that some consultants have had a positive experience with SMS. I suspect these are individuals outside Melbourne or those who are mostly self sufficient in the field, with no reason to ask favours from their consultancy. Some of the longer term consultants will have their own reasons for staying - perhaps perks inherited from more generous days and a better salary than the newer guys?

I can only speak as one of those employed over the last few years. My experience was of a company with a 40% churn rate and an average consultant tenure of 18-24 months. The company seems happy to work with that business model, but it is clear that most consultants can't see a long and happy future with the company - it is a stepping stone to better things.

For those who want a more defined career progression - appropriate client roles to help them grow, a modicum of investment in their careers, a decent mentoring structure, support from managers you can respect - forget it.

Advice to Senior Management – Either admit you are a body shop and become a leading edge contracting shop, or start properly investing in your consultants as per your marketing material.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at SMS Management & Technology full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Smart people who aren't arrogant
Hard working people
Company is trying to push into new areas
Company has a fairly flat management structure
Has different roles in almost every industry
Free drinks in the staff kitchen
Will give you a lot of networking opportunities

Cons – It's difficult to get put into a role that you want or that will help you grow your skills. It involves becoming best buds with the Account Directors so they think of you first.
Many roles will under utilise your skills or may be in an area that you're not interested in. If there's a role that needs filling, and you're free, you WILL go into that role...
For some engagements, the Account Directors will over commit their staff, promising more than you can reasonability deliver to get the engagement.
As a general rule the company will put its shareholders before its staff.

Advice to Senior Management – You need to listen to your staff more. When they tell you they're unhappy or bored in their role, don't just shrug it off and tell them they need to be billing, try and keep your staff happy!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at SMS Management & Technology part-time for more than a year

Pros – - SMS has many very talented, smart, inspiring and determined people and it is just great to work with them
- You are in charge of your own career, meaning you can get involved as much or as little as you like
- Flat structure. Our consultants’ experience range from graduate to executive and they all have the same title ‘Consultant’. It is really up to you what you make out of it. You can become thought leader in an area of your interest, develop IP, make presentations to your topics, share your knowledge
- A fantastic variety of industries, clients and projects
- No big transformation projects. All our projects are small to medium sized. This has the advantage that you actually can oversee the project, understand the bigger picture and make a real difference on the project
- Great management support to approve flexible work arrangements, part time work arrangements or unpaid leave. Things like these make work real fun.
- Very approachable Senior Management
- Lots of opportunity to get involved in building and improving the company

Cons – - No fancy overseas training trips
- The flat hierarchy can also lead to lack of self-motivation, as there no peer pressure to compete against for the next promotion
- No foreseeable hierarchy jumps and therefore also no foreseeable salary jumps. It’s a bit hard to estimate which position you will have in 5 years time and what your potential salary might be.
- Smaller projects may also be a con if you want to gain more experience in large scale program / project management engagements.

Advice to Senior Management – - More structure / guidelines in content management and IP sharing is required
- A performance plan which identifies capabilities individuals need to proof in order to be eligible for a promotion and salary increase
- Ongoing investment in building the company's backbone (people, knowledge, infrastructure)

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at SMS Management & Technology full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The people are all extremely talented
Amazing career opportunities
Work with the largest organizations in Australia

Cons – Not your traditional company so be prepared to be challenged and work for your salary.

Advice to Senior Management – Look after your employees and they will do the same.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at SMS Management & Technology full-time for more than a year

Pros – Not too many...Melbourne centric work is based on what they win there and then fed to other states.Ok if you're in the Melbourne office.

Cons – Not too many...Melbourne centric work is based on what they win there and then fed to other states.

Advice to Senior Management – before giving advice to other companies it should look inwards...

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at SMS Management & Technology full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Generally great consultants.
Great building and location.
Broad range of industries to work in.
Still the 'coffee consultancy'

Cons – Culture does not tolerate people speaking out against the company.
Focused on shareholder wealth at the detriment of consultants.
Is rapidly loosing it's more experienced consultants, either by underhand dismissals based around 'utilisation' or resignations.
Does not know how to sell experienced / senior consultants. Expects these consultants to find their own work - I believe that's called 'contracting'...
HR department does not understand consultants and bases their actions on a once a year survey, the results of which are never released in full as consultants are apparently not smart enough to interpret the results.
Office based appointments largely based on nepotism or old boys / girls club.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop pretending you're the SMS of old, you've changed. Start talking about yourself as a shareholder focused company so staff expectations are aligned.
Don't pretend you pay well, staff will be more understanding when you're honest.
HR start genuine engagement with consultants and stop just telling people things.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at SMS Management & Technology full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great stepping stone to branching out into the wider business arena

Cons – Need to be self montivated and have an initial network pool to start with

Advice to Senior Management – Give your staff more opportunities to step up

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company