Excellent to Clients, Horrific to Employees - Anonymous employee Orbis Risk Consulting Employee Review

Orbis Risk Consulting is an amazing place to work. The partners really value their staff and have fostered a high performing team that delivers some amazing work for the firm's clients. As an employee you'll receive employee benefits, professional development, staff social activities, flexible working options, the possibility of travel within Canada and a dynamic work environment that promotes continuous learning to help you progress your own personal career goals. At Orbis you get all the perks that you'd get from working in a big firm but you don't have all the internal politics to deal with, you have greater opportunities to work closely with key clients and are considered to be a valid voice in the room no matter what level you are at. The projects and subject matter areas that Orbis focuses on are incredibly interesting and you'll rarely do the same project twice which was a real draw card for me. If you are a grad looking for a firm that can kick start your career or a senior executive that is looking to find a firm that truely lives its values then Orbis is the place for you. If Orbis was still 15mins down the road from me I'd still be there to this day!

Orbis takes on some extremely challenging projects which at times do not have clear direction at the onset. You need to be able to live with a little bit of ambiguity and that doesn't necessarily sit well with some people. Busy season has morphed into all year round but isn't that a pro too? More billable hours!

Much like the previous review, I must echo the sentiment that the firm is great towards their customers and they are willing to bend over backwards to keep and generate new business. Unfortunately, they are all too willing to bend and break staff with poor compensation and very poor treatment.

On the pay and benefits side. The pay is well below industry standard and the bonus structure is not made clear to employees. The amount of constant overtime on nights and weekends never comes back when it come bonus season. The health benefits are also well below industry standards. For a small firm, you would expect they would offer higher compensation to compete with the big names in the industry, but this is not the case. The constant overtime, is due in large part to unclear expectations, general confusion, poor time management and the inability of the firm to maintain staff for more than a year, requiring constant stop-gap measures to plug the holes. The partners do not communicate well with staff, often insulting and belittling them in front of other staff members and to other staff members. The environment is consistently negative, and partners manage through fear and threats, this approach is evident in the fact that they cannot keep their employees. There are so many great firms in the city, make the right choice, and reach out to former employees if you can, before making a decision you will regret.