Pros
1. Some Individuals: Having worked for Capgemini over the last 5 years now, I am surprised at the calibre and values of some individuals, who are clever, hard working, ethical and driven. However, this is not across the board with a very mixed bag of talent. 2. Variety of Engagements: Consulting engagements are quite varied, which is great in terms of exposure to different challenges across a number of verticals - particularly for younger consultants, not so much for more senior consultants.
Cons
1. Leadership - It is non existent. In place of leaders, they have administrators that administer clients, people and results via spreadsheets. 2. Culture - It is schizophrenic . For a firm that asserts the "collaboration, freedom, trust and honesty..." are cornerstones of its organisational culture, it acts in direct contradiction to these values. Leaders and employees do not collaborate but continuously undermine each other to "own" relationships and outcomes for individual gain. Staff have no freedom to express their opinions because there is no 360 degree performance management, cliques exist from the top down and challenging decisions results in detrimental feedback. Interactions from the top down are characterised by an implicit distrust in individual agendas or ability to deliver. And the organisation as a whole is incapable of being honest with itself in terms of its capability, its competitive standing and what it brings to clients. The general culture is characterised by cynicism, apathy and game playing. 3. Priorities - Leadership are unable to articulate a vision or priorities in a way that connects with any human being. Priorities are expressed (almost exclusively) in financial terms, with no clear vision, plan for execution or understanding of tradeoffs. 4. KPIs - KPIs are cryptic, unrealistic and ineffective breeding institutional game playing, cultural fragmentation and devisive behaviours. 5. People Management - There is no clear career path for consultants beyond being placed on whatever opportunity is available at any given time, resulting in sub-standard outcomes for both clients, consultants and their careers. Drive and ambition is discouraged, while complacency and time in grade is rewarded. 6. Ethics - Senior management decisions around resourcing, customer engagement and performance management are often unethical. Too many examples to air... 7. Remuneration - Remuneration and reward systems are opaque, subjective and grossly uncompetitive. Most consultants are being offered significantly more from the clients they serve for less responsibility. The secretive pay scales have never been indexed (to my knowledge) nor have charge out rates. 8. Expertise - There is little to no investment in building or harvesting expertise. Any expertise that is hired is rapidly diluted by shoving 'square pegs in round holes'. Basis for competing is purely on price because of lack of expertise. 9. Sales Bloat - There are far too many sales people that have a complete lack of understanding of consulting, our client's needs and what it takes to deliver, resulting in either troubled projects or employee burnout.
