New York Manager Matt Taylor tells us about his career journey, L.E.K. Consulting’s Temporary Adjustment Program for Parents (TAPP), and how L.E.K.’s recently launched staffing model, Connections Based Staffing (CBS), is enhancing the personal and professional development of L.E.K.ers and the service to our clients in the U.S. Matt describes how CBS offers opportunities for generalists and L.E.K.ers who are interested in dedicating to a sector. Read more about Matt, L.E.K. and the U.S. staffing model below.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be at L.E.K.
I joined L.E.K. as a summer intern in 2017 while I was working on my MBA at Columbia Business School and returned full time the following year. Before business school, I worked within the public education space. Most recently prior to L.E.K., I was brought in as a vice principal of an underperforming middle school to help turn it around. I really loved the process of doing that through situation analysis, problem identification and solution proposal. That led me to decide to make a career out of it. I’ve stayed where I am today at L.E.K. because the work here is genuinely interesting, the people are genuinely kind and they seem to hold similar values to those I do.
How has your role changed since joining L.E.K.?
I came in as a Consultant; I’m now an Engagement Manager within the healthcare services practice. After the birth of my second daughter, Margot, I took advantage of L.E.K.’s TAPP [Temporary Adjustment Program for Parents]. TAPP is a great program where after the birth or adoption of a child, employees can return to work in a staff role that includes more predictable hours and a schedule that aligns well with the early days of parenthood. Through TAPP, I joined the Talent team supporting strategy and talent initiatives. This is how I became involved in managing and launching Connections Based Staffing (CBS).
What is Connections Based Staffing (CBS)?
CBS is an approach to staffing our projects whereby all L.E.K.ers on the consulting side are affiliated with a specific industry subsector for six months at a time and will be staffed with a consistent group of people. This helps increase exposure to industry content and, more importantly, enables richer relationships among the team members. This deepens personal and professional growth, development, and mentorship. It’s a win-win because our clients also benefit from the industry-specific knowledge that the team builds through the CBS model. Colleagues who want to stay with an industry subsector can elect sector dedication. For those who prefer to continue to have a broader, generalist work experience, there is the opportunity to switch sections every six months. Each rotation kicks off with a daylong welcome celebration and training to introduce generalists to sector-specific resources, tools and industry nomenclature and begin the process of forming bonds with colleagues you’ll work alongside in the coming months. We’re really proud of our generalist staffing model, and CBS will provide continued support for new and rich experiences for generalists within L.E.K. as well as support for those deciding to dedicate.
You mentioned earlier that L.E.K.ers share your values. What type of values do you connect with the culture here?
Kindness, curiosity and humility are pretty important to me, and I think that L.E.K.ers tend to walk the walk and talk the talk on those. Take that and couple it with hard work, rigorous analysis and diligent efforts toward a goal, and that’s what makes an L.E.K.er in my opinion. People here work hard to achieve outcomes, and they do so in a way that’s without sharp elbows and rooted in genuine kindness and collective curiosity.