Korn Ferry reviews

3.3

55% would recommend to a friend

(3,875 total reviews)
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Gary D. Burnison

56% approve of CEO

48% positive business outlook

Korn Ferry has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 3,875 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Korn Ferry employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Administración y consultoría industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

4K reviews
1.0
Jan 22, 2019

The firm does not practice what we preach

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Despite my overall negative rating I don't want readers of this review to think that I am a disgruntled employee, so let me first say that I have been able to achieve a lot in my time at the firm. I've received multiple promotions and pay raises and on that front I have no complaints. If you are proactive about your own development I think there are good opportunities at Korn Ferry to broaden your skill set and get exposed to challenging assignments/roles. However I will be leaving the firm soon due to my many frustrations with how the firm is run and how the broader employee population is treated.

Cons

Hard to trust management - lack of transparency. Pay is not in line with market, even though Pay & Rewards is one of the firm's main competencies. Managers are not provided with any real training on how to be effective, despite Leadership Development being one of our supposed competencies. I have been in a management/leadership role for 3.5 years and have not received a single hour of mgmt. training. The firm is extremely numbers driven and is still run with an old-school Search mentality. If you are coming from another search firm it will probably feel similar. However if you are on the Advisory/Products side of the organization you may not like the button-up, stiff culture that continues to permeate the organization. Merit increases are discretionary, 401k matches (very small) are discretionary, annual bonuses are discretionary. Basically everything is discretionary. The firm will not make commitments to employees regarding some of these pieces. Morale is low in many parts of the business, turnover is high and the firm doesn't seem to really care. Finance runs this firm. For a People/Talent advisory firm, the internal Talent/HR team has absolutely zero power. That has presented serious issues on multiple fronts.

2.0
Dec 12, 2017

The Land of Broken Toys

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Smart, talented consultants * World class I.P. * Great offices and office locations around the world * A brand you want on your resume * Smart M&A strategy

Cons

* OPERATIONS - remember the 'Land of Broken Toys' in "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer"? Although the M&A strategy is great for investors, the acquisition pieces - specifically, the people and processes - never fit together. This company has so many tools, but it's so difficult to make things (R&D, sales, delivery) work smoothly. * CULTURE - remember Lord of the Flies? Its kind of like that minus the conch. There is a zero-sum game mentality across all lines of business. It's intensely tribal by business unit, office and even floor. Some offices are worse or better than others. Are you female? You should ask another current or former female employee about her opinion of the culture. Or, look at other reviews on this web site. * LEADERSHIP - Top down, distant leadership style from corporate. In Search, many old men act afraid they will be (finally) retired, so they take a hands-off approach to managing their offices and bad behaviors. In Advisory, it's a revolving door of "leadership." They have no P&L responsibilities and it was only this year that they organized by industry like Search. Finance, not the business unit leaders, run the show. * COMPENSATION - Until this year, the firm would not give annual raises, and bonus pools for all businesses have shrunk because of acquisitions. Support staff has been hit particularly hard. Advisory is a drag on revenue and that impacts annual bonuses in all business units. * THE COBBLER WEARS NO SHOES - You'll see this comment a lot. They need to use their own services to find, select and develop their own employees and leaders. The company has surprisingly few millennials except for FutureStep, the smallest part of the business. GenXers have been leaving Advisory and Search in droves. I hope FutureStep employees are being groomed for Search when they are more seasoned.

1.0
Feb 24, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I learnt that if I see red flags on glassdoor I should avoid the company. I ignored them for this place and they turned out to be correct. I hated every second of working there.

Cons

I know times are tough but if you ever have the misfortune of being offered a job here. Do NOT take it. I knew as soon as I was introduced to my team that something wasn’t right. Every single one seemed timid and on edge, like they’d had their confidence knocked out of them by the insecure manager. A truly toxic work environment. You will be gaslighted to feel you are underperforming so they can justify zero bonuses/pay increases. They have no regard for whether this affects your self confidence or mental health. A huge blame culture exists, that has resulted in an abysmal employee retention record and an even worse level of staff morale. The fact that Korn Ferry doesn’t respond to any of these glassdoor reviews, should tell you everything you need to know about how much they value their employees. Surely a company advising on talent and acquisition should maintain their Glassdoor as a minimum. To anybody currently employed by Korn Ferry who has had their confidence knocked so badly, get out ASAP. You are worth so much more then this place makes you feel you are. Side note: isn’t it strange that any good reviews are all written in batches of 4 or 5 in a row and seem like they’re written by the same person?

Viewing 22 - 24 of 3,875 Reviews

Glassdoor has 4,775 Korn Ferry reviews submitted anonymously by Korn Ferry employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Korn Ferry is right for you.