Glad I'm Out - Consultant Ryan Employee Review

• In pursuit of the “One to One Billion” revenue goal, Ryan feels as if it’s engaged in growth for the sake of growth. Merged/acquired entities aren’t necessarily integrated well into the company, and people who are brought in this way don’t always get job duties with Ryan that make sense with their skills, or that fit them appropriately into existing teams. • MyRyan is something of a bait and switch. Only after I was on board was it explained via internal training (and on more than one occasion) that you are expected to put in 55 hours a week – minimum. The workplace flexibility can be used to guilt trip employees into working longer hours, and implementation varies by team. • Employee turnover, especially in key functions, like IT, learning, and HR, seems to be high, and quality of service from these areas declined noticeably while I was there. They started off mostly meeting the stated timeframes for response, but I eventually noticed the times getting longer, and on some occasions got no response at all. If you really need help, you may have to make a nuisance of yourself. • Ryan makes a big deal out of continuing education, requiring 50 hours annually from most employees. Much of this training is essentially busywork that has little or nothing to do with your job duties, and is accomplished with team building exercises and canned Power Point presentations. • Workflow can depend greatly on your area. You can have plenty to do, or far too little. If you’re on the right teams you can get a good balance, but it can be disconcerting if you go for an extended period when billable work is scarce. Outside the core business areas, Ryan’s high fees, inflexible engagement policies, aggressive billing, and litigious nature can be a tough sell. Client retention in my part of the firm was adversely affected by clients questioning fees and the way Ryan’s legal people insisted on structuring the engagements. • Advancement opportunities can be very limited. • Despite a stated commitment to ethical standards, sometimes it amounts to so much lip service. You may be told certain forms of “creativity” should be considered justifiable somehow (i.e. filing questionable claims because of the potential contingent fees if they slip by). I was told not to worry about it by a management figure in my practice area, who suggested the taxing authorities should be kept on their toes. I can’t say such lapses are widespread, but I know firsthand they do happen, and reporting an issue in such a way as to avoid repercussions may be difficult. Some clients are aware of these practices and balk at engagements accordingly. I placed this item last, but its impact on my conscience was a major reason I chose to leave.