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.
HRPEPPER MANAGEMENT
CONSULTANTS
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