A collective and open approach
Impact is the result of a strategic reflection, led by the firm’s Strategic Committee, conducted by all Wavestone employees between June and December 2021.
First, all employees were invited to express, via an online forum, their aspirations (“I would be happy and proud if Wavestone…”) and to identify the key issues that they believe should be addressed for Wavestone by 2025.
Then, 7 streams were instructed, under the supervision of ‘experts’ in each of the issues addressed. The highlight of this process was the Wavestone 2025 Bridges, which brought together 3,000 people in 10 locations around the world to reflect on the future of the firm. 350 workshops were held during the day. The CEOs of some of our competitors and partners also agreed to come and meet the firm’s employees to discuss their strategy and that of Wavestone.
At the same time, more than 600 clients were interviewed by the firm’s consultants to better understand their challenges in the years to come and their expectations towards Wavestone.
Based on the results of the instruction phase, a first draft of the strategic plan was established. This was then challenged, reworked several times, and refined in successive stages during the convergence phase, which lasted 6 weeks. After 35 workshops with 750 participants, the final version of the strategic plan, now named Impact, was completed.
Impact was officially launched at the beginning of December 2021, during various presentation events such as the Wavestone Live Show, which virtually gathered all of the firm’s employees around the world.
Let’s now get to the heart of the matter.
Impact, a strategic plan and 3 objectives
Impact is a new chapter in the history of Wavestone, a new momentum. We have associated 3 objectives for 2025:
- Reach a new growth horizon, with a target revenue of €750m by 2025
- Include 5 large non-French companies in the TOP 20 clients
- Meet the highest standards in terms of non-financial performance, by positioning Wavestone in the top 5% of the best companies when it comes to CSR
The start of a new economic cycle
After an economic crisis, linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, which will have had deep and irreversible consequences, the year 2021 marks the start of a new economic cycle.
Companies are embarking on major transformations to respond to powerful mutations that are changing the world. Three main drivers are at the source of these transformations.
In every business sector, competition is becoming more intense, sometimes intensified by new players from the tech industry. In order to cope with this, operating models are being sharpened, yesterday’s activities are being sold, and numerous acquisitions are being made to strengthen the businesses that offer the greatest growth potential.
For several years now, the move towards digital has been undeniable. What is changing is the agenda. What used to be a movement is becoming a shift, and what was supposed to take years now seems to have to happen in a few quarters.
The forced pause of 2020 has brought about an awareness: climate change is a crisis, the environmental emergency is no longer a doubt. In just a few months, the environmental imperative has moved to the top of the strategic agenda of all large companies, with huge consequences for some.
Pascal Imbert
CEO
Wavestone’s mission is to guide and accompany the transformations that will be undertaken. A mission, and even an obligation. There can be no real future for Wavestone’s teams if their focus is not centered on the heart of these transformations. This is the very meaning of everything that has been built up to now. This is what Impact is all about. To make Wavestone the partner of the largest companies to help them face their greatest challenges: competitive, digital, environmental
The 3 pillars of Impact
- International and Growth: The firm's development priority from now on will be to accelerate the growth of its international activities and to capture new large international clients, in sustained growth, both French and more importantly non-French. This will be the priority in terms of sales, mobilization of skills, and growth investments (marketing, recruitment, human resources). The acquisition program will be accelerated, in particular in the target geographic areas: the United States, the United Kingdom and, in a more mid-term vision, Asia. And if a transforming acquisition opportunity arises, we will seize it.
- Expertise and Value: As they rethink their businesses, our clients have expressed one key expectation to us: expertise. This expectation is in line with the core aspiration of the talent who join Wavestone: to rapidly develop their knowledge and bring constantly more value. The firm will radically increase its investment in expertise and value. Wavestone intends to become one of the best training schools for consultants throughout their entire career. Wavestone will also develop its expertise in depth in order to provide its clients with even more innovation, forward thinking and thought leadership. The priority themes will be the key issues of the coming years: cybersecurity, data, artificial intelligence, new digital business models and sustainable development. Sustainable development will be the subject of a particular investment in order to rapidly build a top-level capability within the firm. The objective is to offer our clients a "360°" value proposition that closely combines business, technology and sustainable development skills. The effort made may lead to a decrease in the utilization rate of consultants. This will be offset by the increase in sales prices resulting from the additional value provided to clients.
- The Positive Way: "The Positive Way" is the name of the value base on which Wavestone is founded: Client satisfaction and support for sustainable performance, Employee development and commitment, Responsibility and ethics, which make Wavestone a good corporate citizen, and Collective mindset, the most distinctive value of Wavestone in the consulting market. The firm will strive to cultivate these essential values, the roots and glue of the teams that bind the Wavestone teams together, in order to better meet the challenge of growth, acquisitions and international expansion, while remaining true to itself.