A team of entrepreneurial consultants, all with extensive experience, set out in 2005 with a mission to help clients improve strategy implementation in new, more powerful ways. They knew that great things happen when the three disciplines of strategy, organization design and talent management are aligned and viewed in an integrated, holistic way. They also knew that many organizations tend to work on these three disciplines in a fragmented and sequential way, never quite connecting the dots between the three elements and almost always struggling to execute as a result. Since establishing Axiom Consulting Partners the founders have seen the firm grow because the core mission makes sense to clients, as do the impressive results that Axiom helps clients deliver. The firm has served clients in more than 50 SIC code categories, including financial services, energy, consumer goods, healthcare, life sciences, technology, public sector, higher education, not for profit, and professional services.
Focusing on Execution
What makes Axiom unique? According to founding Partner Steve Strelsin: "We wanted to build a firm that addressed what we saw as an under-served need in the market. Between the traditional strategy advisory firms and human capital consultants there was a gap that could be filled by consultants who were totally focused on collaborating with clients to execute their strategy and deliver real, measurable results.
"It’s not about us; it’s about our clients," Strelsin said. "We weren’t interested in building a highly leveraged staffing model," Strelsin said. "And we weren’t going to focus on billable hours. By working on a fixed fee basis we have provided fee certainty for clients and have consistently deployed the most appropriate, best qualified resource to each client’s challenge, instead of the most cost effective and less experienced."
Shockproof
With the publication of Shockproof: How to Hardwire Your Business for Lasting Success in 2010 (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), Axiom chronicled its successful approach towards aligning business strategy, organization and talent to improve execution. Leaders from AT&T, Intel, Pfizer, Sony, Nokia, American Express, Juicy Couture and Qualcomm are among those who share first-hand accounts about their efforts to "shockproof" their organizations. Axiom’s headquarters are in Chicago’s Loop, the heart of the business district. Axiom consultants are now also based in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Houston and Austin, TX in the U.S. and in Dublin, Ireland and Brussels, Belgium.
Garrett Sheridan, Axiom’s President, looks forward to building on the foundation established by Axiom’s founders. "We have earned long-term relationships and the status of trusted advisor because of our experience, insights and the impact we deliver," Sheridan said. "Aligning strategy, organization and talent to improve execution and results isn’t a fad. It’s a fundamental prerequisite to organizational success and sustainability."