Week 2- Organizational Culture at GH

After reading another student’s post, it made me reflect upon the challenges and efforts in Organizational Culture at Guidehouse. Similar to the CVS- Aetna acquisition and merger, Guidehouse acquired Navigant Consulting in 2018. The main purpose of this acquisition was to strengthen Guidehouse’s service offerings and extended into the Commerical practices. While this has been a great success and has allowed for innovation and cross-sectional work, the C-suite is still working to solidify “What is Guidehouse’s culture?”.

When I consider culture, I view it both from an internal and external lens. Internally– how do employees feel at the company and what is that atmosphere. Externally– how does Guidehouse’ culture and values place in the marketplace against its competitors. For this entry, I will focus on internally based on observations from this week. Being an intern last summer gave me insight into organizational and technology challenges from the acquisition but it seems that employees are transitioning to the migration. However, I still do hear terms like Legacy Navigant and Legacy PwC several times a week. I do infer this may change 10 years down the road since it is still a recent transaction.

This week I had the chance to attend two All Hands calls. All Hands calls are open webinars for the appropriate audience per the topic. As Q2 of the 2021 year is wrapping up the end of June, the company hosted a “Q2 2021 Global All Hands” webinar. This webinar was open to all employees across practices to hear from the Guidehouse Leadership team. A robust business update covering Q1 performance results, key wins across segments, account planning updates, innovation programs, and internal programming was discussed. This formal method was a way for all employees, new and old, to learn how the company is doing, where our efforts should be aligned, and what is the C-suite’s vision for the future.

What stood out to me in this call was the levels of passion and excitement from the leadership team. Despite being a relatively new company, it continuously strives to inspire employees through appreciation. This appreciation is shown through both words and actions. In the all-hands call, they made sure to thoroughly in detail highlight each segment’s wins of 2021 so far. For example, the commercial health segment was hit hard during COVID-19 but has made a strong recovery and the data and validation from leaders echoed that in the meeting. Being a new player in the consulting industry has required the leadership team to set up and be more attentive to internal dynamics to cultivate the culture of “for the people”. The people of the company and the clients we serve. A significant 30 minutes of the webinar was devoted to an update of the new HQ construction. The COO inserted architect draft mock-ups of the new headquarters in Tysons Corner/McLean. All of the images shown very collaborative areas full of open-space settings, green areas, and open-pane windows to insight collaborative discussions.

Additionally, Guidehouse has Flex Fridays from Memorial Day to Labor Day to allow employees to enjoy a shorter Friday starting at 1PM EST and spend it as they wish whether that is with their families or friends at home or outdoors enjoying the weather. Of course, if there is a pressing client deadline employees will be flexible but it’s a standard practice to not schedule internal meetings after 1PM EST during these Flex/Summer Fridays. If employees manage their time well and address the client’s needs before then, they can leave the office (or remote laptop) early and enjoy a long weekend. This shows that GH does value their people and well-being.

Lastly, on June 1st Guidehouse announced effective June 7th, Dominica Groom Williams will join the company as Chief Culture, Inclusion and Diversity Officer (CCIDO). Dominica was formally introduced on the All Hands call and introduced old and new initiatives that she and her team will lead. “As Guidehouse’s CCIDO, she will head the company’s efforts to develop a strategic vision and implement a plan to evolve a culture of inclusion, diversity, and excellence as a part of the core mission and values”. I believe this new role will strengthen Guidehouse’s culture and truly figure out what it is and how they want it to be moving forward which seems to still be in a gray area (weakness) post-acquisition and being a new company in the industry.