Consulting Magazine - November 2017

HRpepper is an innovative management consultancy that is based in Berlin and was founded in 2012. HRpepper has 30 permanent employees and can rely on many freelance consultants and trainers. Clients include large corporations, medium-sized companies, and public institutions. Matthias Meifert, Management Partner & Founder, sat down with Consulting to discuss the firm’s performance.

Consulting: What were the main factors that contributed to your firm’s growth?

Meifert: The reason why HRpepper is growing fast is that we follow a different consulting approach. It is based on a philosophy that we call “Pepper-Style”. The elements of enjoying innovation, quality of cooperation, orientation towards experiences, and an evidence-based consulting approach are the pillars. Another pillar is our consultants, who feel comfortable and enjoy lots of freedom in their work. They think and act as entrepreneurs. Most of them hold company shares.

We do not have a normal hierarchy
system, people are organized based
on the topics, they are responsible
for. We deeply believe that excep-
tional client experiences are based
on employee experiences. And that
these also derive from inspiring
clients’ experiences. Moreover, we
recognized early what the market
and more specifically our clients
need, because we have a desire for
future challenges and testing new
approaches. We have offered con-
cepts such as Employee Experi-
ence, Self-organized work, the im-
plementation of Design Thinking in
HR or agile strategy development
earlier than other consultancies.

Consulting: How is this year shaping up for your firm? Meifert: We will end 2017 with a sales and earnings record. We have already reached our sales target in July— 3. 2 million euros. By the end of this year, sales are expected to reach 5. 6 million euros— compared to 3.0 million euros in 2016. Our workforce has grown significantly in 2017 also: starting with 24 employees this year, we now have 30 employees.

Consulting: How would you describe your firm’s outlook for 2018? Where do you see the most opportunities?

Meifert: As a consultancy we want to and will continue growing. We believe there is a great opportunity for transformation consulting that knows and understands digital developments as well as its potential but highlights people and collaboration as success indicators. People Analytics, Social Collaboration always have a technical and social dimension that have to be united.

Consulting: What would you say are your firm’s biggest challenges in 2018?

Meifert: Due to growth, the biggest challenge is, on the one hand the lack of qualified consultants that bring along the right mindset and, on the other hand are capable of getting into a topic quickly.

Consulting: What does being named one of Consulting’s Fastest Growing Firms mean to your firm, your employees and your clients? Meifert: The award makes us proud and is also a recognition of HRpepper’s work, its consultants and office team. All of our 30 employees are delighted and we will celebrate it appropriately. Simultaneously, it is an incentive to keep on going and look for opportunities but to remain true to ourselves.