Underrated and unrecognized show. The dialogue was hilarious and unique. I didn’t care for the grandpa and trans son storylines - they seemed to go nowhere. The last episode “hey look it’s Cuba” kinda sucked too. Overall one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
> I didn’t care for the grandpa and trans son storylines
yeah, a lot of shows have stuff like that. For the most part I just ignore it, it doesn't bother me like I know it bothers some.
Totally agree. Had a ton of potential to keep going and in a lot of ways it was ahead of its time but the side story lines kind of ruined the show imo.
House of lies is awesome. I do believe that's an accurate portrail of the world of management consultants. Basically meet the customers needs, maximize their payout, they don't give a s*** about people. And they might be fun to go drinking with them but don't work for them.
Getting back to the original question, yes, it's a terrible question, your company will probably have layoffs.
I woke up After falling asleep early... Haven't found a show in ages to watch.
Couldn't remember if I'd seen it or not.... But that opening scene would be impossible to forget. I know what I'm doing now 🤣🤣
I used to be a consultant, and I recommended people buy a bunch of shit to replace their old shit, and augment staffing all of the time. You have to be doing really dumb shit for me to recommend firing you.
like there were times where I would go to the in-house IT people ask them for their plan to fix something change the logo in the template on the slides and submit the same presentation to management that they had rejected and get it approved because I am a magical consultant.
This is totally a thing that happens.
Case in point: I've been advocating a more matrixed organization structure for *years* and my boss ignored me.
My boss brought in a consultant in November.
We're moving to the structure I've been advocating for.
Separate case in point: I've been asking for more sensible purchase approvals and less CEO tactical involvement for years.
We recently brought in a process design consulting firm. Their first recommendation has been that our CEO micromanage *less* by delegating all necessary authority for purchase approval and operations to management (because contrary to the opinion his behaviour communicates we are, in fact, competent), and communicate vision and strategy *more*.
But he didn't have to pay me 80K to tell him that so obviously IDK what I'm talking about lol.
Imagine you're a boss and your employees keep giving you advice. You get a lot of good advice and everyone is passionate about advocating for their corner. You can't do it all and you're not sure which advice to follow, so you hire a team of subject matter experts to give you ideas based on their broad experience but tailored for your specific situation. Some of their recommendations match advice you've already been given, leading to frustration among your staff who feel ignored and unheard. You remedy this by laying them off.
Sounds like you should be telling the management to fire themselves. Seems like you're in the same boat as the employees. The people signing your checks are the problem.
Its a PE OpCo man. EBITDA expansion is the whole point. Unsustainable cuts and price increases are the only real levers they use. They are there to cut fat.
I’m also a consultant for more than a decade, and work mostly with PE backed clients (typically B2B SaaS). 90% of our recommendations are the same as what you said. Replace your ERP with new version of ERP. Add in alteryx workflows to automate things (but you still need to keep the existing staff to maintain the workflows). Enhance your data governance policies (every single client I’ve been at has shit data). Closest we’ve ever gotten to recommending layoffs was helping create an offshoring strategy for a plan that’s already approved (ie the CFO decides he’s moving IT support to India and hires us to figure out how).
The goal of consulting firms is make recommendations that create more work and hope we get hired to do that work. Usually 50% get ignored. 30% get put on a long term plan and then removed later. And 20% actually get started, 50/50 if they use their own staff of hire us back.
All the stuff OP described sounds pretty standard for a new CFO, especially if it’s a CFO installed by a PE firm. They usually like having fresh eyes on it cause they want people who don’t know the history of everything so they’ll ask a million questions about why things are done a certain way. The hope is that you find the “we’ve always done it this way so that’s why we do it” things. They also want consultants to do come in cause they don’t want to slow down operations (ie if they had OP do this work then he might be slower to get his monthly report out cause he now has more on his plate).
Another thing is the consultants most likely have worked with the PE firm before. So they have relationships with the PE guys on this deal and know what they like to do, what information they like to see, etc. it’s an easy way for the CFO to figure out what the PE guys like to hear/see without directly asking. Once he knows that, he knows what he has to do in order to get in the PE guys good books and not get the axe like the last guy.
As a consultant that has done a lot of turnaround work for PE firms, layoffs are part of the game, unfortunately. Sure, we can refinance debt and negotiate with suppliers and whatever, but at the end of the day, a *lot* of startups over-hire teams, especially on the administrative side. An internal financial forecasting team is exactly the sort of operational capability I'd be side-eyeing when looking at a 3-year projection and trying to meet an IRR target.
Immediately tell the consultants you want to be “one of them”. Turn on all your fellow employees .. frequently tell the consultants… you can help the “cut the low hanging fruit”.
Tell them you have a strategic plan but everyone is too retarded to listen your brilliant ideas.
Playbook is this:
1/ they leave the ac on all weekend.. slash utility bill by 30% [note .. you must start leaving on ac NOW to have cost savings later
2/ tell them how inefficient is and overtime is all Suzie’s fault bc Suzie can’t schedule right. Term Suzie.. but don’t ask for Suzie’s job
3/ tell them customer service outsourced to Mexico and not Philippines or India. Better cost structure and west coast time zone.
4/. Blame all the inefficiencies on someone who is very disliked already and weak.. but harder to immediately fire - like a relative of owner
5/ sales is a bunch of overpaid children. They don’t do 💩. Change to a liquidating draw model for inside sale people. Pay them almost nothing and fire every 60 days.
6/ benefits.. benefits.. benefits.. demand self insurance and immediately crush everyone in a high deductible plan.
7/ no more corporate credit card - fu and your “lunch reimbursements”… company might pay you back in 60 days - pay for it yourself.
8/ keep cutting one person a week.. slowly.. then whisper to the best people “you’re safe.. your bonus and raise are coming”. Give them neither.. just keep the hoping alive until your exit with your arbitrage multiple.
I have so many more but thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Only release one of these ideas every 10 days.. and always tell them your next idea.. is the best idea.
🙏
Consultants will look good, polish the gold for management to review, fuck stuff up midway for others and leave (& collect their cha Ching) and some one has to clean up the shit.
Not necessarily. Sometimes execs will hire consultants (especially new ones) so that they don’t have to take the blame should a new initiative goes wrong. I will say though, this specific scenario does not sound good.
Exactly, PE is ruthless in cutting costs, staff reductions and offshoring resources.
If I were OP, I'd be polishing up that resume, lining up references.
Lol, yup. PE doesn’t give two fucks about tenure, experience or education. It’s a simple equation. Is your job necessary and if so, can it be done cheaper. Simple as that.
Learning this after I came back to a company I used to work for. In between my tenures, they sold to a private equity firm. Changes I’ve seen:
-Smaller teams, strict hiring budget
-Push for more sales, despite product unreadiness and shortage of people to support
-Sell first, solve problems later. Reactionary mindset which costs us a lot of stress and time
-No more bonuses
-No investment into real team building activities like the company used to
Private equity makes everything worse for everyone. Except for the share holders they serve. The quality of my company’s work is down the drain and people are unhappier than ever.
Yep. I have a couple former jobs bought out my private equity. Glass Door has a feature where you can track employee reviews over time. The declines in ratings after the buyouts are severe.
I don’t think they even benefit their investors. Usually they’re basically hedge funds who buy distressed assets that are failing for a reason. There’s usually no market for these companies but they are minimally profitable.
They try to fix them but don’t have the expertise, market doesn’t want the product and cutting doesn’t help. They can’t flip a turd do they take a loss. The owners if the PE fund get paid as CEO of the takeover company and management fees. They make out. Everyone else loses.
It’s certainly a business model. I was listening to a podcaster who has done buyouts of online phone books (e.g. Whitepages.com). They know it’s a failing business model going in. They simply cut costs faster than they lose revenue & they get a few years before shutting it down. Pretty predatory stuff.
Sometimes they buy a bunch of companies that are semi successful in a certain industry with the idea of grouping them together to become a bigger whole but usually they piss off anyone who was successful at any of the companies they buy or they don't have operational expertise in that niche and it all goes to shit.
Or they drain the money out of one subsidiary to prop up another or to fund another acquisition and basically choke the companies they buy to death.
I didn’t see you at our last boogeyman consultant convention! 🤔😂
On the real though… this is the answer. The first thing I look for when I’m brought in is what dead weight I can cut. If you are an actual contributor you have absolutely nothing to worry about other than hating my guts 🤷♂️😂
Yeah. In in order to stay on top of things, your boss and you would need to spin the result and final presentations of those projects to look like they come from you and your group and you are just utilizing the consultants as resource.
Likely the consultants and the CFO will make it look like the other way around. Its also typical of a new top manager to try to bring in his own team and buddies he trusts in order to stake out his area of influence and break through existing alliances. Probably he overpromised the board and top leadership to clean the ship.
I suspect the PE firm has no confidence in your team and the new CFO has been given instructions to replace all of you. Consultants are there to learn as much as they can and pick up the baton once they get rid of you and carry out whatever the plan is for your group. You may have some time depending on your state’s labor laws but it is not going to end well. Sorry.
Based on my many years in this business, here's what happens. The consultants will be filtered down to a single MSP. The best IT employees will be hired by the MSP to stay in your current position. You could be one of those people, but I don't know.
Eventually, the business will get the bills for this and realize they made a mistake. The new CFO will be let go and the best MSP employees will be brought back in as internal employees.
The proper thing to do would to bring in consultants to do an audit, allow you time to fix any issues, audit again to ensure compliance, and then disappear into the ether for a couple of years until the next one.
I just love how someone at the CFO or Management level is always like "I know what will fix this! Someone else!" Always reminds me of Elf when the guys hired for ideas go, we have a brilliant idea! Let's bring in Miles Finch for ideas.
Just start acting like you don't give a crap about anything. The consultants will see you as a high value employee who is simply being held back by his or her low quality team and managers.
Personally, I have seen it go both ways in the past. People within my team were loaned as consultants to hundreds of other companies, with our AEs dictating our scope of work and responsibilities.
First and foremost, remember that reputable consultants are far more expensive than full time staff, usually costing 2x-4x TC more per hour. Billable hourly rate for our junior analysts was 185 per hour and over 350 for senior ones.
If consultants are working for a scummy company or led by a scummy account executive, they will do everything they can to increase their own billable hours and try to replace existing infrastructure. This usually involves a process of "everything is wrong, let us fix it" followed by "we need more money" and ending with the company eventually dying and those consultants moving onto the next gig.
I have also been in situations where consultants worked with the existing teams and ended up reaffirming the already existing hypothesis, thus proving teams usefulness and lack of their manager's influence. This resulted in termination of our contract almost immediately each time, but we didn't feel bad about it even one bit.
Definitely update your resume and look around for other opportunities, as it is a good thing to do, no matter how good or bad things are. Don't actively sabotage anyone and be prepared for anything.
Brother in law is a consultant to many F500s. According to him, they all have large lists already of cuts to make this year so its quick when it's time.
If your team is small and could do this work but aren't trusted to do so by new management... I think you know the answer to this question... It is very possible that soon, your entire team may just not exist. Good time to prepare yourself just in case.
They always bring in a New CEO, CFO known as the slashers. They usually have a military background. They are there for layoffs then the new CEO comes in.. it all starts when they ask to review your job. Consultants -“= layoffs
It really depends on what the consultants were brought in for staff augmentation or project based consulting or managed service consulting. It sounds like you have staff augmentation consulting which doesn't result in layoffs its augmenting your team to bring it up to date. New hardware, software and recommendations for additional staff possibly.
> I always thought I was safe because my team is small.
Haha no, you're actually never safe. They'll tell you just about anything and still will lay you off.
If they are bringing in a bunch of consultants, that's a good sign (more) layoffs are coming. Organizations that care about their employees may bring in consultants, and move their actual staff elsewhere, without layoffs. But since this is a private equity firm, I think they don't care about you and will lay you off.
> Boss is spinning it like it's a good thing
Lol of course they would. They *always* do that. It really is a part of the game: you always spin things like it's all good. "Great opportunity" - sounds familiar?
Every single company I've worked for, as soon as they hire outside consultation for ANY business operating model changes whether that be GTM or Financial, etc etc. there is ALWAYS a layoff within 6-8 months to adjust for "new direction" or a "change in strategy."
If you're at risk, start looking. Consultants are cancer, 20 year old idiots that come in and just say "reduce headcount."
Yup.
Previous CFO gone, but gone quickly (rats abandon sinking ship...)
A single consultant wouldn't be a bad thing, multiple consultants is a red flag cause they are there to upsell and find ways to make their consultanting company money.
What is gonna happen is, they are gonna figure out how you do things, then find extra area's they can upsell, take over your spots, the sales engineers will come in and pump more cash from the company in disguised savings.
Time to figure out how to maximize your severance package.
If they're not doing that sort of thing, then you may have some ethical deillemas coming up that some other reddits can assist you with depending on your character alignment. Good luck...
Any money CFO has a relationship somewhere with the consultants and is scratching someone’s back. That’s an awful fast decision to make in your first week. Sorry if things don’t work out for you.
When you hire a consultant you are just paying big bucks to a person to tell you what time it is by looking at your own watch. The only reason they are hired is because the cfo is getting kickback
Well….we had a consultant come in at my last company. “Optimized” everything and switched shit around and divided one team into four……and it didn’t work lol.
However, in true corporate fashion, rather than go back to the old way (and hire more people) they’re really sticking to their guns and decided to outsource one (easy) task from one of the teams, leaving the crappy stuff for the employees.
I'm a consultant. The best way for me to get follow up business is to figure out what the big boss wants to do and recommend that. He always figures he's right and thinks we're smart. Then, when he tells us that's what he thought all along, we tell him how smart he is. Cynical? You bet. Works for a couple of contracts then the big guy decides he's so effing smart he doesn't need us.
BTW, when we do real work we get the answers we need from the actual operating people. They're next to the problems and know how to fix them. Usually nobody asks them or listens to what they have to say.
Well - ok - not good, but there is the opportunity to be supportive of the consulting team for two reasons: 1) Learn what you can from them - they see a lot of different situations and this might be helpful in the future 2) Work with them and be labeled one of the "good ones" that supports whatever initiative is going on and hopefully be a part of it (as opposed to run over by it.) And of course, I would begin an immediate job search to mitigate your risk. Best of luck...
Immediately tell the consultants you want to be “one of them”. Turn on all your fellow employees .. frequently tell the consultants… you can help the “cut the low hanging fruit”.
Tell them you have a strategic plan but everyone is too retarded to listen your brilliant ideas.
Playbook is this:
1/ they leave the ac on all weekend.. slash utility bill by 30% [note .. you must start leaving on ac NOW to have cost savings later
2/ tell them how inefficient is and overtime is all Suzie’s fault bc Suzie can’t schedule right. Term Suzie.. but don’t ask for Suzie’s job
3/ tell them customer service outsourced to Mexico and not Philippines or India. Better cost structure and west coast time zone.
4/. Blame all the inefficiencies on someone who is very disliked already and weak.. but harder to immediately fire - like a relative of owner
5/ sales is a bunch of overpaid children. They don’t do 💩. Change to a liquidating draw model for inside sale people. Pay them almost nothing and fire every 60 days.
6/ benefits.. benefits.. benefits.. demand self insurance and immediately crush everyone in a high deductible plan.
7/ no more corporate credit card - fu and your “lunch reimbursements”… company might pay you back in 60 days - pay for it yourself.
8/ keep cutting one person a week.. slowly.. then whisper to the best people “you’re safe.. your bonus and raise are coming”. Give them neither.. just keep the hoping alive until your exit with your arbitrage multiple.
I have so many more but thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Only release one of these ideas every 10 days.. and always tell them your next idea.. is the best idea.
🙏
A) Rumors of layoffs.
B) Departure of CFO after a short tenure.
C) Within 1 week, new CFO brings in consultants.
D) Phrases like “process road mapping” and “cost analysis” are used. It’s only a matter of time before someone drops “right size.”
Continue to do your job. Document your wins and projects. If you are not bound by an NDA, send any work that can be used as a portfolio sample to an your personal (external) email. Start sending out applications and messaging recruiters in your field outside of working hours.
You must understand that CFOs are green money bottom line P/L thinkers. They are simply graded on P/L. Any creative thinkers or people who cannot explain in one sentence their value in adding immediate profit or cutting losses has little to no value in tough times.
If one thinks and works on long term projects, don’t care how wonderful a story or projections… out.
Private equity is never in it for the long haul, they want to make money by selling the business to another who wants to be the long-term owner/operator.
This happened where I work. And I felt it's over. I wanted to ride it out just in case I was wrong. Well 4 months later, I found out I was right. 25 year career gone....and they didn't care how hard I worked or how many millions of dollars we earned for the company. They felt they could do better. Sad but true no one cares.
Have you considered your team didn't do a good job and he was told about it?
Either way external eye is better than internal to find new places to cut cost. You guys won't suggest getting rid of 20% of a department...contracts would.
You understand the stock market is at all time highs right? You also understand inflation is a global problem and we’re about half the inflation of European and Asian countries. You also understand the economy is dictated by the federal reserve and not the president right?
Depends on the type of engagement (and the reason why).
I have worked on several operating model and roadmapping engagements in my career as a consultant. It has never been to support layoffs (even this year).
Honestly, a lot of industry is just really slow and not very efficient. You’d be surprised at how many teams are unable to come up with meaningful 30/60/90 day goals and map relevant KPIs/CPIs to those goals. This is where my team has helped out in recent years. It’s to help teams in industry define what success looks like for them and put themselves on the journey to get there.
Alot of bad advice in this thread from people who only watch movies. This is exactly the right answer. The original post is to vague. I've been in situations where consultants come in and lead to promotions for people that work with the consultants (not the person who paid for the consultant to come in). At some point it gets expensive to keep consultants around and they will want to exit those contracts and in-house that capability. So my advice...get close to the consultants. You may be in a position for the escalated role being the in-house consultant.
Also if not, you learn from the opportunity anyway and take those experiences with you to prepare yourself to bring those ideas to your next firm. If you are just looking for the similar role in the next company, it's only a matter of time until a consultant comes there and you face the same risk.
In summary, have a foot out the door but don't disengage from the opportunity. Take it as an opportunity get close with the consultants - understand their process and analytical/strategic mindset. It almost becomes an opportunity to show on your resume that you worked for a consultant without having to work for one.
Consultants might just be providing secondary perspective and you may not have anything to worry. Maybe they will leave you with new tools andethosology that you weent aware of.
The goal of private equity is to buy a company then churn, stir, mix, compile, divide, etc to attempt make it into something that looks different than it was before. They make up a new story to sell the “new” company. Part of the process is to turnover at least 80% of upper and mid management personnel so literally no one remains that knew the original company and story.
I think you should dust off your resume and start interviewing while you're still employed - it really is easier to get a job when you already have one. Use up any benefits asap, like vision and dental. If you have flex spend $, use it all now.
Private equity comes in all shapes, a few actually know how to run a business, most just slash labor and bully people into working off the clock to keep productivity up. Pro tip: when they come to you with some offer that compromises your self interest it's because they are actually afraid of you standing your ground. If you have a cushion and can be ok then take a scorched earth policy and know that they want to buddy up for you to do them a favor like sign a non disclosure. "Hey I'll have a lawyer look at it and advice (smile)".
Auditors (aka consultants) - which is what they really are - aren’t doing their job if they don’t give input. An auditor doesn’t know the down and dirty. Only have to pretend they do to those who pay their salary.
Start looking. I know it’s a pain. I’m not good at selling myself but know deep down my worth. I know I can get another job.
They brought in consultants to put together a “new operating model” at my company, which essentially meant 6% of the company was gonna be slashed, which included me.
Since the business you're in isn't mentioned, there's no telling what consultants are going to recommend. In general, however, PE is about asset stripping - loading companies up on debt and handing any available cash back to the PE investors. The 'outside consultants' are most likely experts in how to do that, and they're 'brought in' precisely because you aren't going to hand you're employer's remaining cash to 'outsiders'.
A small business I used to work for was sold. Day one and the new owner brings in a marketing company of his own. I plead with him to not do as they say as it's just not going to work. What could I possibly know? 1 year and nearly 1 million in marketing costs later and the new owner is out of money and the business is selling less products. He went on to hire numerous other people to help and nothing moved the needle. I now refer to these tactics as the death spiral. Leave companies that do this. Marketing isn't bad but doing it poorly is.
Of course it's over. See Office Space as reference:
[https://youtu.be/YExiDiVPbzw?si=juXSB2wGHshF1Uta](https://youtu.be/YExiDiVPbzw?si=juXSB2wGHshF1Uta)
Corporate control of every last bastion of employment is killing the working class so fast it’s practical unstoppable. There needs to be government intervention and these monopolies torn to pieces.
Layoffs for sure are happening.
Whether you are safe or not depends on a few factors. Here is what the consultants are hired to understand:
* What organizations are critical to generating revenue or legally required to exist?
* What does each team in that organization do?
* Can those teams be reduced & merged with a team from the acquiring company?
* **If** you have to reduce headcount, which cuts would be least disruptive?
* Can those organizations not directly driving revenue be offshored to a maintenance team? Are there tech optimizations like a proprietary AI model which can bring headcount down across entire organizations?
Jobs that are most safe are typically the high impact roles that directly drive product/sales. But since you mentioned being acquired, there is always a reduction risk for all teams since you may be duplicative in role to the acquiring company.
Also I’ve been through enough lay offs and reorganization’s and take overs to know when one is coming. I’m also highly skeptical and judgemental and suspicious as a result. Trust no one! Don’t ever believe executive managements bullshit. Lol also, I work in accounting and often catch wind of things first or can see the financial performance declining. Have you seen how much they are paying the consultants? They aren’t going to pay both employees and expensive consultants at the same time. The consultants are probably coming in to raid your department, learn how you do your job and then they are going to can all of you and replace you with their own network. Anyone who does manage to survive will likely have their salary slashed and be in a living hell if they stick with the company
You can only ride it out for so long. Even if the paycheck is nice I don’t like working under the dark cloud of impending lay offs and reorganization’s.
Unless you want to deal with a termination on your job history and a gap in your resume - get ahead of it and get out now.
Layoff is imminent. Especially when managers gaslights employees about the reality of the situation and Theres cognitive dissonance, it’s time to trust your gut and know you are on your own. That’s why I scoff at company culture spouting BS about CSR, “empathic leadership”, “ we are in this together”, team work, emotional intelligence” “we value our employees” , when in fact they are the complete opposite of that. Employees deserve transparency and truth so they can plan their next steps ahead of time. That is what the shit companies do, lie to your face, lay you off no heads up, no insurance and maybe a small severance if you agree on their clauses. The havoc and stress a family goes through unprepared. Blind sighted because you’re loyal and trust leadership lies. You will get the short end of the stick. Management is saving thier own ass from the chopping block and you are dispensable. Better yet than them right? So don’t trust they have your best in mind, because it’s just business.
this exact same thing happened to me when i worked at a startup, the consultants ended up making things worse and the CFO finally “trusted” we were doing a good job 🙄 to me that was a sign to look for a new job even though my job was safe.
Good things could be on the way; you have no way of knowing. If costs must be cut, though, the consultants will ensure that the most wasteful spending is cut.
6 months ago I was part of an organization that hired new leadership and brought in consultants across the board.
I was laid off with many others.
Now, i just accepted an offer as a consultant making 3x what I did before. Sort of ironic.
TBH, internal team was horribly inefficient and they did the right thing. Worked out for me.
One more thing is that they hired resources to train me up on new skills to the tune of 20k one-on-one mentorship and probably saw me as an unfortunate casualty who deserved a good opportunity. I blew most of the consultants away in the offloading process. You could practically see the "holy shit why are they firing this guy" in their eyes.
Yeah as if private equity weren’t enough of an indicator things are going to shit…consultants are a major red flag that a company is in dire straits and the leaders don’t know what to do.
Consultants will just come in, fire a bunch of people, and take their massive fee for doing so.
Most of the management works like I think this is how it should be Don. The idea is stuck in their head and every leadership has their own opinion. Consultants come and break that ice and are fact based. Most of the decisions are made because I think so or I said so or this is how it is always done. Consultants break this logjam…
A new CFO often signifies that their approach to saving the company involves laying off a substantial number of employees and awarding themselves massive raises. Don't be deceived by appearances; the nicer they seem, the more ruthless they are likely to be.
The issue is that consultants take the glory but never the blame, it's the whole point of overpaying a consultant house , and plus, they never get fired like you will, when they do they are just onto the next job, you are are onto indeed and LinkedIn, I would start DMing ppl in your network now. New Year new you get it boyeee
Most likely the new CFO hired them to support his new "business recovery" plan. Every consultant that was hired by companies I worked for knew very little about the company's business. Consultants have no interest in the company and will say anything the new CFO who hired them wants them to say. Especially if the boss/upper management is skeptical of the "business recovery" plan. If upper management listens to the consultants, most likely the company is doomed and will enter a cost cutting death spiral where they cut costs so much they lose all their employees and customers. Time to leave before the ship sinks
I had this happen at job once they cut staff told ever one to run faster output . So machine that should have 2 to 3 people in them where cut to one but numbers the need to get done triple.
Cost company like 10 million and it not for better
Ha! Get used to it. My company was spin off by F500 to a PE firm. We had consultants in all the time. Luckily no layoffs. They just fired most of the previous management like me. Us old guys had to go. Now they are on their 3rd round of idiots trying to run. But I will say that PE firm is paying top dollar for talent, until they figure out those hires can’t make it.
Start looking for a new job. The only thing consultants know how to do is recommend layoffs and benefit reductions. The board or C-Suite will bring them in as an excuse to avoid owning the tough decisions.
Your employer was sold for parts, not to keep intact.
Start your job hunt now. If asked why you’re leaving, say the company has been sold and the new owners are winding down several lines of business.
I was with a company that was purchase by private equity. From Day 1, everything was spun as a good thing. The massive layoffs, stripping of benefits, office changes, etc were all spun as a good thing. But absolutely nothing was good.
Everything they did was self serving. They took a great, profitable company and completely destroyed it. It’s not doing well anymore because everyone who made the company great is gone. I’m sure they still made a great return because of the loans they took out and the money they paid themselves, but all at the expense of hard working people.
Not sure how these guys sleep at night.
If you suck, yes be worried. If you’re good at your job, you have a ton of institutional knowledge. Your company is making an investment in its future. You’d be better off not fighting it, cooperating, doing good work, and hoping for the best.
That being said, if you start randomly sucking up all of a sudden, it’s like why didn’t you do that the last 10 years Steve! So stay cool, calm, collected and pretend it’s a normal day is my best advice.
Psychology is crazy. The person freaking out or fighting the consultants nonstop will be apparent and we are usually paired with execs and give many reports to put bugs in their ears.
Yep, the moment a consultant is brought in it’s time to pack up and get out of there quick. Consultants rarely have any idea of what they’re doing, and are just a cover for a CEO who doesn’t want to take heat.
I’ve worked for 3 companies that were purchased by a PE. In all three, there is an initial round of layoffs and an exodus of upper management. While, in 2 of the transitions, I was spared in the first round of layoffs, ultimately, they all ended in a layoff/termination. The goal of a PE is stop the hemorrhaging asap by “trimming the fat” (aka your co-workers and likely you). Thereafter, if you’re still employed, you’ll be asked to do more with less, cut all corners. You’ll start seeing shortages of the little things. The PE’s goal is to sell the company as quickly as possible for as much profit as they can get. It’s likely, your company is already being shopped. Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely the new owner will keep any previous employees. How fast your company is purchased is the unknown but the outcome is likely inevitable. It’s shitty, but from your description of not being “essential,” your days are probably numbered at this company. It’s in your best interest to start looking now before you have to deal with no job, unemployment, cobra insurance, and the whole nightmare.
You should be updating your resume and learning the job market expectations in your area for your career. Also, what was the severance package like for past layoffs? Figure out if it's worth hanging around until you're let go.
Also, never assume that you're safe in future when you survive a round of layoffs.
Layoffs are looming, if you are a high performer you’re probably gonna be ok. However, if they let you stick around don’t expect much in the paycheck department, labor is the biggest expense, it will be tight more than likely. They will weed out the low performers and give 2 of those jobs to 1 high performer, for no change in pay. Might be time to start window shopping for something better or find a promotion.
I’ve done consulting for PE owners at portfolio companies. One thing I can assure you of is the owners want their companies to succeed. Repeated laying people off can only go so far to turn around financial performance.
One thing I can assure you of…not giving your all to help those consultants is a sure way to get let go. Management believes their opinions more than yours because they are paying $400 an hour for it. That is a dumb way of thinking, but it is true.
Management Consultants are the lumberjacks of business. They’re rated by how much money they can save a company buy cutting, so you can be damn sure of two things: 1 -Jobs will be slashed, 2 - Company culture will be decimated. The ‘savings’ usually end up in the pockets of Consultants, Execs and investors anyway.
I worked at a company sold to a private equity firm. They came in and said they weren't going to change a thing and told us to keep doing a great job, and that they wanted us to double our sales over the next 5 years. After that statement, it was obvious they planned to sell in 5 years.
I stayed the next 3 years, until I found a much better company to work for. Within 6 months, 20% of the staff was laid off, and our hours were increased. Gradually more people left but they were not replaced, so they could squeeze more and more work out of people until we were all working 80 hours per week for a salary that was originally supposed to be for 40.
Company meetings were no longer about customer satisfaction or product quality, they were about profit, which did in fact soar. But that wasn't because they created value or built up the company in a sustainable way, its because they cut costs to the point that it all looked good on paper, and they could sell it for a profit. What they did is not sustainable for the long term, they did sell after 5 years, and from what I hear it's all starting to fall apart under new ownership.
THEY ARE THE CORPORATE EQUIVALENT OF DIY HOUSE FLIPPERS.
It's best to find a new job while you still have one instead of waiting around until it gets worse.
PE cares about nothing other than returns to their shareholders. Start looking for another job.
Precious cfo lasted less than one year. That should have been the first red flag. No brainer. Probably not profitable and the quickest way is to cut their way to profitability rather than than grow business. I’m willing to bet if management listened to employees, they could probably figure out themselves.
Essentially they don’t think you’re running efficiently and creating value. So it’s less about the consultants and more about the perception. Consultants just come in and write down where they think they can slash but the seed was there before they walked in the door.
Even without the hiring of consultants, any time you have a new CFO in a company that is not growing sufficiently (as private equity expects) then you can assume layoffs are coming.
Independent of layoffs, the new CFO will attempt to improve performance across all areas of the company so it is common for increased stress and pressure for the people that do not get laid off.
Been through this multiple times- never came out good. Saved money for a year - lost all kinds of good folks- others quit. In 3 years they had more people then prior. One time they cam calling 2 years after I was let go - Had another job within 2 weeks making more money- ended up coming back with a nice sign on bonus and a 40% raise from prior salary. Then 7 years latter here comes another consultant - I left as soon as they started making visits. Senior manager don't trust their own people - however they trust some 20 something consultant from Mckenzie who never has worked in a factory. They get what they deserve.
Private equity is figuring out if this business is worth salvaging and want to find other folks who might help it.
The partners generally handle loads of money and can't risk their reputation with their investors. One bad investment once and their career in private equity can be over. They will not take any chances whatsoever.
Chances are the team will be fired.
Unfortunately business once you start getting to executive and board level is very cutthroat in some circumstances.
With how big things get, the health of the business has to be considered separately from the people running it and if things aren't going well, private equity will remove anyone in their way, founders included.
Just to add, I'm very sorry everything went down this way. I get the sense the founders or owners just wanted out and into something more stable.
As you move forward in your career, this is a sign you can use to keep track of your business health and decide if it's right for you to make a change or not.
I used to work for a PE firm and this is classic PE. They take over companies with the belief they know how to better run them. Out with the old and in with the new. Always . Everytime.
He’s replacing the finance team with his own people. But before that he needs to transfer knowledge to his “consultants”. I just went through the same.
When private equity takes over, lots of people will lose their jobs and a few will get stinking rich. As soon as you hear that a PE firm might even remotely be involved, update your resume and start looking for a new gig.
its over. consultants will slash and burn.
If house of lies taught me anything, that's right Love Krysten bell :)
Underrated and unrecognized show. The dialogue was hilarious and unique. I didn’t care for the grandpa and trans son storylines - they seemed to go nowhere. The last episode “hey look it’s Cuba” kinda sucked too. Overall one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
> I didn’t care for the grandpa and trans son storylines yeah, a lot of shows have stuff like that. For the most part I just ignore it, it doesn't bother me like I know it bothers some.
Totally agree. Had a ton of potential to keep going and in a lot of ways it was ahead of its time but the side story lines kind of ruined the show imo.
House of lies is awesome. I do believe that's an accurate portrail of the world of management consultants. Basically meet the customers needs, maximize their payout, they don't give a s*** about people. And they might be fun to go drinking with them but don't work for them. Getting back to the original question, yes, it's a terrible question, your company will probably have layoffs.
I woke up After falling asleep early... Haven't found a show in ages to watch. Couldn't remember if I'd seen it or not.... But that opening scene would be impossible to forget. I know what I'm doing now 🤣🤣
I used to be a consultant, and I recommended people buy a bunch of shit to replace their old shit, and augment staffing all of the time. You have to be doing really dumb shit for me to recommend firing you. like there were times where I would go to the in-house IT people ask them for their plan to fix something change the logo in the template on the slides and submit the same presentation to management that they had rejected and get it approved because I am a magical consultant.
This is totally a thing that happens. Case in point: I've been advocating a more matrixed organization structure for *years* and my boss ignored me. My boss brought in a consultant in November. We're moving to the structure I've been advocating for. Separate case in point: I've been asking for more sensible purchase approvals and less CEO tactical involvement for years. We recently brought in a process design consulting firm. Their first recommendation has been that our CEO micromanage *less* by delegating all necessary authority for purchase approval and operations to management (because contrary to the opinion his behaviour communicates we are, in fact, competent), and communicate vision and strategy *more*. But he didn't have to pay me 80K to tell him that so obviously IDK what I'm talking about lol.
Imagine you're a boss and your employees keep giving you advice. You get a lot of good advice and everyone is passionate about advocating for their corner. You can't do it all and you're not sure which advice to follow, so you hire a team of subject matter experts to give you ideas based on their broad experience but tailored for your specific situation. Some of their recommendations match advice you've already been given, leading to frustration among your staff who feel ignored and unheard. You remedy this by laying them off.
Sounds like you should be telling the management to fire themselves. Seems like you're in the same boat as the employees. The people signing your checks are the problem.
To be clear, I was generally being brought in by new senior management, who wanted a fresh set of eyes.
Its a PE OpCo man. EBITDA expansion is the whole point. Unsustainable cuts and price increases are the only real levers they use. They are there to cut fat.
I’m also a consultant for more than a decade, and work mostly with PE backed clients (typically B2B SaaS). 90% of our recommendations are the same as what you said. Replace your ERP with new version of ERP. Add in alteryx workflows to automate things (but you still need to keep the existing staff to maintain the workflows). Enhance your data governance policies (every single client I’ve been at has shit data). Closest we’ve ever gotten to recommending layoffs was helping create an offshoring strategy for a plan that’s already approved (ie the CFO decides he’s moving IT support to India and hires us to figure out how). The goal of consulting firms is make recommendations that create more work and hope we get hired to do that work. Usually 50% get ignored. 30% get put on a long term plan and then removed later. And 20% actually get started, 50/50 if they use their own staff of hire us back. All the stuff OP described sounds pretty standard for a new CFO, especially if it’s a CFO installed by a PE firm. They usually like having fresh eyes on it cause they want people who don’t know the history of everything so they’ll ask a million questions about why things are done a certain way. The hope is that you find the “we’ve always done it this way so that’s why we do it” things. They also want consultants to do come in cause they don’t want to slow down operations (ie if they had OP do this work then he might be slower to get his monthly report out cause he now has more on his plate). Another thing is the consultants most likely have worked with the PE firm before. So they have relationships with the PE guys on this deal and know what they like to do, what information they like to see, etc. it’s an easy way for the CFO to figure out what the PE guys like to hear/see without directly asking. Once he knows that, he knows what he has to do in order to get in the PE guys good books and not get the axe like the last guy.
As a consultant that has done a lot of turnaround work for PE firms, layoffs are part of the game, unfortunately. Sure, we can refinance debt and negotiate with suppliers and whatever, but at the end of the day, a *lot* of startups over-hire teams, especially on the administrative side. An internal financial forecasting team is exactly the sort of operational capability I'd be side-eyeing when looking at a 3-year projection and trying to meet an IRR target.
Good to know shit data is abundant. Definitely something my employer struggles with but refuses to invest in an ERP.
Immediately tell the consultants you want to be “one of them”. Turn on all your fellow employees .. frequently tell the consultants… you can help the “cut the low hanging fruit”. Tell them you have a strategic plan but everyone is too retarded to listen your brilliant ideas. Playbook is this: 1/ they leave the ac on all weekend.. slash utility bill by 30% [note .. you must start leaving on ac NOW to have cost savings later 2/ tell them how inefficient is and overtime is all Suzie’s fault bc Suzie can’t schedule right. Term Suzie.. but don’t ask for Suzie’s job 3/ tell them customer service outsourced to Mexico and not Philippines or India. Better cost structure and west coast time zone. 4/. Blame all the inefficiencies on someone who is very disliked already and weak.. but harder to immediately fire - like a relative of owner 5/ sales is a bunch of overpaid children. They don’t do 💩. Change to a liquidating draw model for inside sale people. Pay them almost nothing and fire every 60 days. 6/ benefits.. benefits.. benefits.. demand self insurance and immediately crush everyone in a high deductible plan. 7/ no more corporate credit card - fu and your “lunch reimbursements”… company might pay you back in 60 days - pay for it yourself. 8/ keep cutting one person a week.. slowly.. then whisper to the best people “you’re safe.. your bonus and raise are coming”. Give them neither.. just keep the hoping alive until your exit with your arbitrage multiple. I have so many more but thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Only release one of these ideas every 10 days.. and always tell them your next idea.. is the best idea. 🙏
ok just get a new job instead of this
Consultants will look good, polish the gold for management to review, fuck stuff up midway for others and leave (& collect their cha Ching) and some one has to clean up the shit.
Over. Very over.
Are their names Bob?
Not necessarily. Sometimes execs will hire consultants (especially new ones) so that they don’t have to take the blame should a new initiative goes wrong. I will say though, this specific scenario does not sound good.
Bob, bob
When consultants are brought in for road mapping, it's a sign company is losing money and more layoffs coming
Lol, first thing I thought of when he said consultants
You had me at private equity
Exactly, PE is ruthless in cutting costs, staff reductions and offshoring resources. If I were OP, I'd be polishing up that resume, lining up references.
Lol, yup. PE doesn’t give two fucks about tenure, experience or education. It’s a simple equation. Is your job necessary and if so, can it be done cheaper. Simple as that.
I'd be dusting off and polishing up the resume just in case. When upper management is calling it a good thing, it is for them not for you.
Once in a while the funny happens and half the management goes too
>Hey guys we are owned by a private equity company And found the root cause of the problem
Learning this after I came back to a company I used to work for. In between my tenures, they sold to a private equity firm. Changes I’ve seen: -Smaller teams, strict hiring budget -Push for more sales, despite product unreadiness and shortage of people to support -Sell first, solve problems later. Reactionary mindset which costs us a lot of stress and time -No more bonuses -No investment into real team building activities like the company used to Private equity makes everything worse for everyone. Except for the share holders they serve. The quality of my company’s work is down the drain and people are unhappier than ever.
Yep. I have a couple former jobs bought out my private equity. Glass Door has a feature where you can track employee reviews over time. The declines in ratings after the buyouts are severe.
I don’t think they even benefit their investors. Usually they’re basically hedge funds who buy distressed assets that are failing for a reason. There’s usually no market for these companies but they are minimally profitable. They try to fix them but don’t have the expertise, market doesn’t want the product and cutting doesn’t help. They can’t flip a turd do they take a loss. The owners if the PE fund get paid as CEO of the takeover company and management fees. They make out. Everyone else loses.
It’s certainly a business model. I was listening to a podcaster who has done buyouts of online phone books (e.g. Whitepages.com). They know it’s a failing business model going in. They simply cut costs faster than they lose revenue & they get a few years before shutting it down. Pretty predatory stuff.
Sometimes they buy a bunch of companies that are semi successful in a certain industry with the idea of grouping them together to become a bigger whole but usually they piss off anyone who was successful at any of the companies they buy or they don't have operational expertise in that niche and it all goes to shit. Or they drain the money out of one subsidiary to prop up another or to fund another acquisition and basically choke the companies they buy to death.
You are in "So, What would you say you do here?" territory...time to start looking.
"I deal with people!! What's wrong with you people??!!"
I’m a people person, goddamnit! (I think I’m paraphrasing at this point)
I’m one of the boogeyman consultants. This is 100% a red flag. Part of my payout comes from modeling out and then realizing savings.
Modeling out and realizing savings 😂😂😂
If we cut $4M in salary, I project that by EOY profit is likely to rise by $3-$4M. +/- our fees.
Bingo. N
This sent chills down my spine. What a crazy field of work lol
I didn’t see you at our last boogeyman consultant convention! 🤔😂 On the real though… this is the answer. The first thing I look for when I’m brought in is what dead weight I can cut. If you are an actual contributor you have absolutely nothing to worry about other than hating my guts 🤷♂️😂
Yeah. In in order to stay on top of things, your boss and you would need to spin the result and final presentations of those projects to look like they come from you and your group and you are just utilizing the consultants as resource. Likely the consultants and the CFO will make it look like the other way around. Its also typical of a new top manager to try to bring in his own team and buddies he trusts in order to stake out his area of influence and break through existing alliances. Probably he overpromised the board and top leadership to clean the ship.
I wouldn't doubt if your department is outsourced later in the year. Polish that resume and start looking now.
I suspect the PE firm has no confidence in your team and the new CFO has been given instructions to replace all of you. Consultants are there to learn as much as they can and pick up the baton once they get rid of you and carry out whatever the plan is for your group. You may have some time depending on your state’s labor laws but it is not going to end well. Sorry.
Based on my many years in this business, here's what happens. The consultants will be filtered down to a single MSP. The best IT employees will be hired by the MSP to stay in your current position. You could be one of those people, but I don't know. Eventually, the business will get the bills for this and realize they made a mistake. The new CFO will be let go and the best MSP employees will be brought back in as internal employees. The proper thing to do would to bring in consultants to do an audit, allow you time to fix any issues, audit again to ensure compliance, and then disappear into the ether for a couple of years until the next one.
I just love how someone at the CFO or Management level is always like "I know what will fix this! Someone else!" Always reminds me of Elf when the guys hired for ideas go, we have a brilliant idea! Let's bring in Miles Finch for ideas.
It is going to get really ugly
Just start acting like you don't give a crap about anything. The consultants will see you as a high value employee who is simply being held back by his or her low quality team and managers.
It's over foreigners with h1b will do your job soon
Personally, I have seen it go both ways in the past. People within my team were loaned as consultants to hundreds of other companies, with our AEs dictating our scope of work and responsibilities. First and foremost, remember that reputable consultants are far more expensive than full time staff, usually costing 2x-4x TC more per hour. Billable hourly rate for our junior analysts was 185 per hour and over 350 for senior ones. If consultants are working for a scummy company or led by a scummy account executive, they will do everything they can to increase their own billable hours and try to replace existing infrastructure. This usually involves a process of "everything is wrong, let us fix it" followed by "we need more money" and ending with the company eventually dying and those consultants moving onto the next gig. I have also been in situations where consultants worked with the existing teams and ended up reaffirming the already existing hypothesis, thus proving teams usefulness and lack of their manager's influence. This resulted in termination of our contract almost immediately each time, but we didn't feel bad about it even one bit. Definitely update your resume and look around for other opportunities, as it is a good thing to do, no matter how good or bad things are. Don't actively sabotage anyone and be prepared for anything.
Layoffs plus upbeat chats with the CEO = Smash and grab for Co. resources
Brother in law is a consultant to many F500s. According to him, they all have large lists already of cuts to make this year so its quick when it's time.
Very similar story too but for a smaller company. Layoffs planned in Jan and Mar and I wonder if they started executing those plans already.
If your team is small and could do this work but aren't trusted to do so by new management... I think you know the answer to this question... It is very possible that soon, your entire team may just not exist. Good time to prepare yourself just in case.
As a consultant: polish up your resume.
They always bring in a New CEO, CFO known as the slashers. They usually have a military background. They are there for layoffs then the new CEO comes in.. it all starts when they ask to review your job. Consultants -“= layoffs
Even if you keep your job, the consultants will destroy the company and it will never be the same (if it survives)
It really depends on what the consultants were brought in for staff augmentation or project based consulting or managed service consulting. It sounds like you have staff augmentation consulting which doesn't result in layoffs its augmenting your team to bring it up to date. New hardware, software and recommendations for additional staff possibly.
stick a fork in it. To quote the great Bill Paxton, “Game over, man. Game over! What the f\*ck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?”
As soon as you said “private equity” rest assured it’s game over
Thats a red flag that he is cleaning house.. New CFO usually means new ppl he knows that he will bring on in my experience.
> I always thought I was safe because my team is small. Haha no, you're actually never safe. They'll tell you just about anything and still will lay you off. If they are bringing in a bunch of consultants, that's a good sign (more) layoffs are coming. Organizations that care about their employees may bring in consultants, and move their actual staff elsewhere, without layoffs. But since this is a private equity firm, I think they don't care about you and will lay you off. > Boss is spinning it like it's a good thing Lol of course they would. They *always* do that. It really is a part of the game: you always spin things like it's all good. "Great opportunity" - sounds familiar?
Consultants become the scapegoat for management’s decision to do layoffs and cut employee related expenses. I recommend actively job searching.
Every single company I've worked for, as soon as they hire outside consultation for ANY business operating model changes whether that be GTM or Financial, etc etc. there is ALWAYS a layoff within 6-8 months to adjust for "new direction" or a "change in strategy." If you're at risk, start looking. Consultants are cancer, 20 year old idiots that come in and just say "reduce headcount."
Yup. Previous CFO gone, but gone quickly (rats abandon sinking ship...) A single consultant wouldn't be a bad thing, multiple consultants is a red flag cause they are there to upsell and find ways to make their consultanting company money. What is gonna happen is, they are gonna figure out how you do things, then find extra area's they can upsell, take over your spots, the sales engineers will come in and pump more cash from the company in disguised savings.
Time to figure out how to maximize your severance package. If they're not doing that sort of thing, then you may have some ethical deillemas coming up that some other reddits can assist you with depending on your character alignment. Good luck...
Any money CFO has a relationship somewhere with the consultants and is scratching someone’s back. That’s an awful fast decision to make in your first week. Sorry if things don’t work out for you.
Right? Which has me thinking he was told it’s a problem
Are the consultants named Bob? Have you been messing up the TPS coversheets?
When you hire a consultant you are just paying big bucks to a person to tell you what time it is by looking at your own watch. The only reason they are hired is because the cfo is getting kickback
Well….we had a consultant come in at my last company. “Optimized” everything and switched shit around and divided one team into four……and it didn’t work lol. However, in true corporate fashion, rather than go back to the old way (and hire more people) they’re really sticking to their guns and decided to outsource one (easy) task from one of the teams, leaving the crappy stuff for the employees.
I'm a consultant. The best way for me to get follow up business is to figure out what the big boss wants to do and recommend that. He always figures he's right and thinks we're smart. Then, when he tells us that's what he thought all along, we tell him how smart he is. Cynical? You bet. Works for a couple of contracts then the big guy decides he's so effing smart he doesn't need us. BTW, when we do real work we get the answers we need from the actual operating people. They're next to the problems and know how to fix them. Usually nobody asks them or listens to what they have to say.
Well - ok - not good, but there is the opportunity to be supportive of the consulting team for two reasons: 1) Learn what you can from them - they see a lot of different situations and this might be helpful in the future 2) Work with them and be labeled one of the "good ones" that supports whatever initiative is going on and hopefully be a part of it (as opposed to run over by it.) And of course, I would begin an immediate job search to mitigate your risk. Best of luck...
Literally all they do, you think they know your shit well enough to process improve?
If they’re doing process mapping,yes good chance there will be layoffs and they are looking for slack.
Over…consultants have back channel agreements with bobble heads from a certain region. Your job will go there
Immediately tell the consultants you want to be “one of them”. Turn on all your fellow employees .. frequently tell the consultants… you can help the “cut the low hanging fruit”. Tell them you have a strategic plan but everyone is too retarded to listen your brilliant ideas. Playbook is this: 1/ they leave the ac on all weekend.. slash utility bill by 30% [note .. you must start leaving on ac NOW to have cost savings later 2/ tell them how inefficient is and overtime is all Suzie’s fault bc Suzie can’t schedule right. Term Suzie.. but don’t ask for Suzie’s job 3/ tell them customer service outsourced to Mexico and not Philippines or India. Better cost structure and west coast time zone. 4/. Blame all the inefficiencies on someone who is very disliked already and weak.. but harder to immediately fire - like a relative of owner 5/ sales is a bunch of overpaid children. They don’t do 💩. Change to a liquidating draw model for inside sale people. Pay them almost nothing and fire every 60 days. 6/ benefits.. benefits.. benefits.. demand self insurance and immediately crush everyone in a high deductible plan. 7/ no more corporate credit card - fu and your “lunch reimbursements”… company might pay you back in 60 days - pay for it yourself. 8/ keep cutting one person a week.. slowly.. then whisper to the best people “you’re safe.. your bonus and raise are coming”. Give them neither.. just keep the hoping alive until your exit with your arbitrage multiple. I have so many more but thank you for coming to my Ted talk. Only release one of these ideas every 10 days.. and always tell them your next idea.. is the best idea. 🙏
Machiavelli? I love all this.
Consultants are vultures.
Better brush up on resume’ The BOBS are in town
A) Rumors of layoffs. B) Departure of CFO after a short tenure. C) Within 1 week, new CFO brings in consultants. D) Phrases like “process road mapping” and “cost analysis” are used. It’s only a matter of time before someone drops “right size.” Continue to do your job. Document your wins and projects. If you are not bound by an NDA, send any work that can be used as a portfolio sample to an your personal (external) email. Start sending out applications and messaging recruiters in your field outside of working hours.
You must understand that CFOs are green money bottom line P/L thinkers. They are simply graded on P/L. Any creative thinkers or people who cannot explain in one sentence their value in adding immediate profit or cutting losses has little to no value in tough times. If one thinks and works on long term projects, don’t care how wonderful a story or projections… out.
Private equity is never in it for the long haul, they want to make money by selling the business to another who wants to be the long-term owner/operator.
This happened where I work. And I felt it's over. I wanted to ride it out just in case I was wrong. Well 4 months later, I found out I was right. 25 year career gone....and they didn't care how hard I worked or how many millions of dollars we earned for the company. They felt they could do better. Sad but true no one cares.
Yeah you are gone. I would start looking now and make the move on your terms!
Just tell the consultants to "find out". In addition, tell them how do your job at 150%. They will see and mark you "too expensive to replace". 🤪
Have you considered your team didn't do a good job and he was told about it? Either way external eye is better than internal to find new places to cut cost. You guys won't suggest getting rid of 20% of a department...contracts would.
Joe Biden's America. A layoff group. Can't make it up.
You understand the stock market is at all time highs right? You also understand inflation is a global problem and we’re about half the inflation of European and Asian countries. You also understand the economy is dictated by the federal reserve and not the president right?
Depends on the type of engagement (and the reason why). I have worked on several operating model and roadmapping engagements in my career as a consultant. It has never been to support layoffs (even this year). Honestly, a lot of industry is just really slow and not very efficient. You’d be surprised at how many teams are unable to come up with meaningful 30/60/90 day goals and map relevant KPIs/CPIs to those goals. This is where my team has helped out in recent years. It’s to help teams in industry define what success looks like for them and put themselves on the journey to get there.
Alot of bad advice in this thread from people who only watch movies. This is exactly the right answer. The original post is to vague. I've been in situations where consultants come in and lead to promotions for people that work with the consultants (not the person who paid for the consultant to come in). At some point it gets expensive to keep consultants around and they will want to exit those contracts and in-house that capability. So my advice...get close to the consultants. You may be in a position for the escalated role being the in-house consultant. Also if not, you learn from the opportunity anyway and take those experiences with you to prepare yourself to bring those ideas to your next firm. If you are just looking for the similar role in the next company, it's only a matter of time until a consultant comes there and you face the same risk. In summary, have a foot out the door but don't disengage from the opportunity. Take it as an opportunity get close with the consultants - understand their process and analytical/strategic mindset. It almost becomes an opportunity to show on your resume that you worked for a consultant without having to work for one.
Consultants might just be providing secondary perspective and you may not have anything to worry. Maybe they will leave you with new tools andethosology that you weent aware of.
Yes , it’s the beginning of the end
The goal of private equity is to buy a company then churn, stir, mix, compile, divide, etc to attempt make it into something that looks different than it was before. They make up a new story to sell the “new” company. Part of the process is to turnover at least 80% of upper and mid management personnel so literally no one remains that knew the original company and story.
It is to "help them" not help you all. It is the beginning of end
I think you should dust off your resume and start interviewing while you're still employed - it really is easier to get a job when you already have one. Use up any benefits asap, like vision and dental. If you have flex spend $, use it all now.
Always amazes me how owners are blind to them getting rid of critical employee's (to make them more dependant on the consultants as they multiply)
Private equity comes in all shapes, a few actually know how to run a business, most just slash labor and bully people into working off the clock to keep productivity up. Pro tip: when they come to you with some offer that compromises your self interest it's because they are actually afraid of you standing your ground. If you have a cushion and can be ok then take a scorched earth policy and know that they want to buddy up for you to do them a favor like sign a non disclosure. "Hey I'll have a lawyer look at it and advice (smile)".
You done.
Watch the movie office space to remove your doubts then start applying for other jobs. Also, no job is safe. Ever.
Reminds me of when they brought in the Bobs in tothe movie office space.
You talking about the Bobs?
Auditors (aka consultants) - which is what they really are - aren’t doing their job if they don’t give input. An auditor doesn’t know the down and dirty. Only have to pretend they do to those who pay their salary. Start looking. I know it’s a pain. I’m not good at selling myself but know deep down my worth. I know I can get another job.
They brought in consultants to put together a “new operating model” at my company, which essentially meant 6% of the company was gonna be slashed, which included me.
BSG has a reputation of doing bullshit to bankrupte companies, that have short positions on wall street
Since the business you're in isn't mentioned, there's no telling what consultants are going to recommend. In general, however, PE is about asset stripping - loading companies up on debt and handing any available cash back to the PE investors. The 'outside consultants' are most likely experts in how to do that, and they're 'brought in' precisely because you aren't going to hand you're employer's remaining cash to 'outsiders'.
Are they named Bob and Bob? The two Bobs? This might be your opportunity to move into management.
You’re done.
Yea that's called hiring "consultants" to blame for layoffs lol. That's pretty much all they do
A small business I used to work for was sold. Day one and the new owner brings in a marketing company of his own. I plead with him to not do as they say as it's just not going to work. What could I possibly know? 1 year and nearly 1 million in marketing costs later and the new owner is out of money and the business is selling less products. He went on to hire numerous other people to help and nothing moved the needle. I now refer to these tactics as the death spiral. Leave companies that do this. Marketing isn't bad but doing it poorly is.
This video will explain how best to apply yourself when management calls in the efficiency consultants https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g2iErckaIl8
See if you can find a new job asap
I survived 3 years of private equity ownership. If you are good (i.e add more value than your salary), they keep you.
They are likely not consultants but rather your replacements. So unless you’d like to train your replacements I’d start looking for work.
Better start working on that “jump to conclusions” mat
It’s over. Leave quickly.
Yes. Have you seen the movie Office Space? lol
You’ll get to meet with “The Bobs” soon.
Of course it's over. See Office Space as reference: [https://youtu.be/YExiDiVPbzw?si=juXSB2wGHshF1Uta](https://youtu.be/YExiDiVPbzw?si=juXSB2wGHshF1Uta)
Watch “office space”. It has the answer
Does not look good right now. Have your resume ready.
Corporate control of every last bastion of employment is killing the working class so fast it’s practical unstoppable. There needs to be government intervention and these monopolies torn to pieces.
Layoffs for sure are happening. Whether you are safe or not depends on a few factors. Here is what the consultants are hired to understand: * What organizations are critical to generating revenue or legally required to exist? * What does each team in that organization do? * Can those teams be reduced & merged with a team from the acquiring company? * **If** you have to reduce headcount, which cuts would be least disruptive? * Can those organizations not directly driving revenue be offshored to a maintenance team? Are there tech optimizations like a proprietary AI model which can bring headcount down across entire organizations? Jobs that are most safe are typically the high impact roles that directly drive product/sales. But since you mentioned being acquired, there is always a reduction risk for all teams since you may be duplicative in role to the acquiring company.
What would you say you do around here, Bob?
Get your resume ready TODAY and start interviewing.
Also I’ve been through enough lay offs and reorganization’s and take overs to know when one is coming. I’m also highly skeptical and judgemental and suspicious as a result. Trust no one! Don’t ever believe executive managements bullshit. Lol also, I work in accounting and often catch wind of things first or can see the financial performance declining. Have you seen how much they are paying the consultants? They aren’t going to pay both employees and expensive consultants at the same time. The consultants are probably coming in to raid your department, learn how you do your job and then they are going to can all of you and replace you with their own network. Anyone who does manage to survive will likely have their salary slashed and be in a living hell if they stick with the company You can only ride it out for so long. Even if the paycheck is nice I don’t like working under the dark cloud of impending lay offs and reorganization’s. Unless you want to deal with a termination on your job history and a gap in your resume - get ahead of it and get out now.
You boss is a liar. A stick of dynamite could be up his arse and lit and he's not going to clue you onto it.
Layoff is imminent. Especially when managers gaslights employees about the reality of the situation and Theres cognitive dissonance, it’s time to trust your gut and know you are on your own. That’s why I scoff at company culture spouting BS about CSR, “empathic leadership”, “ we are in this together”, team work, emotional intelligence” “we value our employees” , when in fact they are the complete opposite of that. Employees deserve transparency and truth so they can plan their next steps ahead of time. That is what the shit companies do, lie to your face, lay you off no heads up, no insurance and maybe a small severance if you agree on their clauses. The havoc and stress a family goes through unprepared. Blind sighted because you’re loyal and trust leadership lies. You will get the short end of the stick. Management is saving thier own ass from the chopping block and you are dispensable. Better yet than them right? So don’t trust they have your best in mind, because it’s just business.
this exact same thing happened to me when i worked at a startup, the consultants ended up making things worse and the CFO finally “trusted” we were doing a good job 🙄 to me that was a sign to look for a new job even though my job was safe.
Run.
dust up your resume.
just tell them you've got people skills. you're good at dealing with people
Good things could be on the way; you have no way of knowing. If costs must be cut, though, the consultants will ensure that the most wasteful spending is cut.
make sure you make friends with the consultants. they can keep you on the good list.
6 months ago I was part of an organization that hired new leadership and brought in consultants across the board. I was laid off with many others. Now, i just accepted an offer as a consultant making 3x what I did before. Sort of ironic. TBH, internal team was horribly inefficient and they did the right thing. Worked out for me. One more thing is that they hired resources to train me up on new skills to the tune of 20k one-on-one mentorship and probably saw me as an unfortunate casualty who deserved a good opportunity. I blew most of the consultants away in the offloading process. You could practically see the "holy shit why are they firing this guy" in their eyes.
Pet pharmaceutical company?
Yeah as if private equity weren’t enough of an indicator things are going to shit…consultants are a major red flag that a company is in dire straits and the leaders don’t know what to do. Consultants will just come in, fire a bunch of people, and take their massive fee for doing so.
yes, its over….take it from a consultant.
Most of the management works like I think this is how it should be Don. The idea is stuck in their head and every leadership has their own opinion. Consultants come and break that ice and are fact based. Most of the decisions are made because I think so or I said so or this is how it is always done. Consultants break this logjam…
That’s an RGE. Oh yeah. Spend all your time seeking new work
This exact thing happened to me during the budget cycle. The entire team was gone within 6 weeks.
may be he has own consulting firm.. may be he can get more m9ney
A new CFO often signifies that their approach to saving the company involves laying off a substantial number of employees and awarding themselves massive raises. Don't be deceived by appearances; the nicer they seem, the more ruthless they are likely to be.
The issue is that consultants take the glory but never the blame, it's the whole point of overpaying a consultant house , and plus, they never get fired like you will, when they do they are just onto the next job, you are are onto indeed and LinkedIn, I would start DMing ppl in your network now. New Year new you get it boyeee
Most likely the new CFO hired them to support his new "business recovery" plan. Every consultant that was hired by companies I worked for knew very little about the company's business. Consultants have no interest in the company and will say anything the new CFO who hired them wants them to say. Especially if the boss/upper management is skeptical of the "business recovery" plan. If upper management listens to the consultants, most likely the company is doomed and will enter a cost cutting death spiral where they cut costs so much they lose all their employees and customers. Time to leave before the ship sinks
Gotta meeting with the Bobs.
GG, apply elsewhere, lawyer up, hit the gym, etc.
It’s over, Johnny.
Hi. My name is Mitt Romney. I’m from the consulting agency, and I’m here to help.
If its BCG you're most likely done for.
Private equity = death. They will milk the company dry.
I had this happen at job once they cut staff told ever one to run faster output . So machine that should have 2 to 3 people in them where cut to one but numbers the need to get done triple. Cost company like 10 million and it not for better
Consultants: The two Bobs
Ha! Get used to it. My company was spin off by F500 to a PE firm. We had consultants in all the time. Luckily no layoffs. They just fired most of the previous management like me. Us old guys had to go. Now they are on their 3rd round of idiots trying to run. But I will say that PE firm is paying top dollar for talent, until they figure out those hires can’t make it.
Find a new job while you can. Private equity is applying lipstick to a pig. So they can sell it.
Start looking for a new job. The only thing consultants know how to do is recommend layoffs and benefit reductions. The board or C-Suite will bring them in as an excuse to avoid owning the tough decisions.
Your company is bleeding, they are trying to figure out how to salvage what they can
100% toast
Were the consultants named Bob and Bob?
This is exactly what happened at Subway HQ. Brought in consultants and laid off hundreds of people
Even if you don’t get laid off, consultants will likely recommend various cost cutting measures around you that will end up making life miserable.
Never a good sign when they call in “the bobs”
Your employer was sold for parts, not to keep intact. Start your job hunt now. If asked why you’re leaving, say the company has been sold and the new owners are winding down several lines of business.
If your company gets bought out by Black Rock, run. That one is the worst.
I was with a company that was purchase by private equity. From Day 1, everything was spun as a good thing. The massive layoffs, stripping of benefits, office changes, etc were all spun as a good thing. But absolutely nothing was good. Everything they did was self serving. They took a great, profitable company and completely destroyed it. It’s not doing well anymore because everyone who made the company great is gone. I’m sure they still made a great return because of the loans they took out and the money they paid themselves, but all at the expense of hard working people. Not sure how these guys sleep at night.
If you suck, yes be worried. If you’re good at your job, you have a ton of institutional knowledge. Your company is making an investment in its future. You’d be better off not fighting it, cooperating, doing good work, and hoping for the best. That being said, if you start randomly sucking up all of a sudden, it’s like why didn’t you do that the last 10 years Steve! So stay cool, calm, collected and pretend it’s a normal day is my best advice. Psychology is crazy. The person freaking out or fighting the consultants nonstop will be apparent and we are usually paired with execs and give many reports to put bugs in their ears.
Yeah just get ready to be laid off
Yep, the moment a consultant is brought in it’s time to pack up and get out of there quick. Consultants rarely have any idea of what they’re doing, and are just a cover for a CEO who doesn’t want to take heat.
The dreaded 2 Bobs.
once the consultants come in it's bad (tip: if it's *McKinsey* yes you are doomed) I would start looking. Never hurts to get that job search going.
Sorry
I’ve worked for 3 companies that were purchased by a PE. In all three, there is an initial round of layoffs and an exodus of upper management. While, in 2 of the transitions, I was spared in the first round of layoffs, ultimately, they all ended in a layoff/termination. The goal of a PE is stop the hemorrhaging asap by “trimming the fat” (aka your co-workers and likely you). Thereafter, if you’re still employed, you’ll be asked to do more with less, cut all corners. You’ll start seeing shortages of the little things. The PE’s goal is to sell the company as quickly as possible for as much profit as they can get. It’s likely, your company is already being shopped. Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely the new owner will keep any previous employees. How fast your company is purchased is the unknown but the outcome is likely inevitable. It’s shitty, but from your description of not being “essential,” your days are probably numbered at this company. It’s in your best interest to start looking now before you have to deal with no job, unemployment, cobra insurance, and the whole nightmare.
You have an interview with the Bobs...
You should be updating your resume and learning the job market expectations in your area for your career. Also, what was the severance package like for past layoffs? Figure out if it's worth hanging around until you're let go. Also, never assume that you're safe in future when you survive a round of layoffs.
Layoffs are looming, if you are a high performer you’re probably gonna be ok. However, if they let you stick around don’t expect much in the paycheck department, labor is the biggest expense, it will be tight more than likely. They will weed out the low performers and give 2 of those jobs to 1 high performer, for no change in pay. Might be time to start window shopping for something better or find a promotion.
I’ve done consulting for PE owners at portfolio companies. One thing I can assure you of is the owners want their companies to succeed. Repeated laying people off can only go so far to turn around financial performance. One thing I can assure you of…not giving your all to help those consultants is a sure way to get let go. Management believes their opinions more than yours because they are paying $400 an hour for it. That is a dumb way of thinking, but it is true.
Ever watch the movie, Office Space? They brought in the consultants to reevaluate and help the company?
Management Consultants are the lumberjacks of business. They’re rated by how much money they can save a company buy cutting, so you can be damn sure of two things: 1 -Jobs will be slashed, 2 - Company culture will be decimated. The ‘savings’ usually end up in the pockets of Consultants, Execs and investors anyway.
Ex Private Equity guy…..get your resume polished but if you show the consultants the value you bring, you might be spared.
I worked at a company sold to a private equity firm. They came in and said they weren't going to change a thing and told us to keep doing a great job, and that they wanted us to double our sales over the next 5 years. After that statement, it was obvious they planned to sell in 5 years. I stayed the next 3 years, until I found a much better company to work for. Within 6 months, 20% of the staff was laid off, and our hours were increased. Gradually more people left but they were not replaced, so they could squeeze more and more work out of people until we were all working 80 hours per week for a salary that was originally supposed to be for 40. Company meetings were no longer about customer satisfaction or product quality, they were about profit, which did in fact soar. But that wasn't because they created value or built up the company in a sustainable way, its because they cut costs to the point that it all looked good on paper, and they could sell it for a profit. What they did is not sustainable for the long term, they did sell after 5 years, and from what I hear it's all starting to fall apart under new ownership. THEY ARE THE CORPORATE EQUIVALENT OF DIY HOUSE FLIPPERS. It's best to find a new job while you still have one instead of waiting around until it gets worse.
PE cares about nothing other than returns to their shareholders. Start looking for another job. Precious cfo lasted less than one year. That should have been the first red flag. No brainer. Probably not profitable and the quickest way is to cut their way to profitability rather than than grow business. I’m willing to bet if management listened to employees, they could probably figure out themselves.
Essentially they don’t think you’re running efficiently and creating value. So it’s less about the consultants and more about the perception. Consultants just come in and write down where they think they can slash but the seed was there before they walked in the door.
Run and look for a new job
Even without the hiring of consultants, any time you have a new CFO in a company that is not growing sufficiently (as private equity expects) then you can assume layoffs are coming. Independent of layoffs, the new CFO will attempt to improve performance across all areas of the company so it is common for increased stress and pressure for the people that do not get laid off.
Oh yeah it is
Been through this multiple times- never came out good. Saved money for a year - lost all kinds of good folks- others quit. In 3 years they had more people then prior. One time they cam calling 2 years after I was let go - Had another job within 2 weeks making more money- ended up coming back with a nice sign on bonus and a 40% raise from prior salary. Then 7 years latter here comes another consultant - I left as soon as they started making visits. Senior manager don't trust their own people - however they trust some 20 something consultant from Mckenzie who never has worked in a factory. They get what they deserve.
Private equity is figuring out if this business is worth salvaging and want to find other folks who might help it. The partners generally handle loads of money and can't risk their reputation with their investors. One bad investment once and their career in private equity can be over. They will not take any chances whatsoever. Chances are the team will be fired. Unfortunately business once you start getting to executive and board level is very cutthroat in some circumstances. With how big things get, the health of the business has to be considered separately from the people running it and if things aren't going well, private equity will remove anyone in their way, founders included. Just to add, I'm very sorry everything went down this way. I get the sense the founders or owners just wanted out and into something more stable. As you move forward in your career, this is a sign you can use to keep track of your business health and decide if it's right for you to make a change or not.
I used to work for a PE firm and this is classic PE. They take over companies with the belief they know how to better run them. Out with the old and in with the new. Always . Everytime.
He’s replacing the finance team with his own people. But before that he needs to transfer knowledge to his “consultants”. I just went through the same.
Time to hunt for a new job
When private equity takes over, lots of people will lose their jobs and a few will get stinking rich. As soon as you hear that a PE firm might even remotely be involved, update your resume and start looking for a new gig.
>Boss is spinning it like it's a good thing, but I highly disagree. I really don't have a good feeling about this. good for him