Poor culture, weak leadership - Client Director Korn Ferry Employee Review

1.0
Sep 10, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The base pay and compensation are above average. Your peers will be incredibly talented, and most frontline leaders are amazing.

Cons

If I could give senior management a negative rating, I would. There is absolutely no input taken from the direct sellers or even second-line leaders. Head-scratching decisions are made by people 4+ layers above the front line. When those don't work, the field is blamed (as if 100+ people are bad at their job and not that it was a poor strategy). Gary Burnison is uninspiring and most senior leadership lacks transparency. Finance runs this company, most leaders don't manage a P&L, so getting any level of additional resources or making changes is next to impossible.

Explore other reviews about Korn Ferry

5.0
Feb 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I am a consultant through a firm acquired by Korn Ferry and have had a great experience with both the firm (Salo) and with Korn Ferry as a parent company. Great to have benefits and PTO as a consultant and great training and resources available - good communication as well!

Cons

Transitional period during acquisition had a few bumps but nothing major and all ironed out as more time has gone on.

4.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The client diversity across industries and regions is top notch. Great brand recognition. The marketing investments in Korn Ferry Tour and LA28 paid off. Smart people. Remote work is a plus as 75% people work remotely. No push for facetime in offices. Work from anywhere! Everyone knows of Korn Ferry!

Cons

A culture of long hours and interrupted vacations. Clear demarcation between haves(fee earners) and have nots (execution). High expectations with outdated systems, manual processes, inefficient. Low pay as there are no merits due to market/company performance. Hard to get food at the holiday party so stop at Five Guys prior.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All