THE MCR STORY

Wow. 10 years already. What a ride. And an occasion, I think, to pull over by the side of the road for a moment and acknowledge what we have achieved. With a clear emphasis on the "We" – all of our impressive and highly capable clients and the equally dedicated MCR team – whose synthesised talents have delivered to such high standards on every project, through all of the organisational complexities, curve-balls and black swans that have already distinguished the mid 2010s to early 2020s. 


Let’s rewind the story. It’s late 2013 and I am out of corporate consulting following a restructure. Where to go next? In-house to a senior reward role? To another consultancy? Maybe something completely different with my life? Or use all I had learned about the increasingly impressive level of client capabilities, your changing needs – and what gets in the way of consultants doing the best job for you – to create a new vision and a new model  for consultancy. Ones in which the organisational shape of the consultancy is, critically, the right design to add value to…please indulge me the generalisation…often ”narrow kite shaped” HR functions with lean senior resource and even leaner support. Would that be an hour-glass shaped consultancy? It could be. But it’s probably too much for any new firm to seek to serve both the strategic and support HR in-trays.

So we decided to specialise at the strategic level of definition and design – the top half of the hour-glass – hence MCR’s inverted pyramid shape.

Mike Curtis
Managing Director

So that we can deliver both depth and breadth at the senior level, which has evolved into our 12 areas of expertise right across the Organisational Effectiveness and Reward fields. And the degree to which we have both consultancy and in-house practitioner experience distinguishes us further from other HR advisory providers. It means what we deliver isn’t just a consultant’s take on the way things should be in your organisation, but practical, implementable and workable – looking at it through your lens and those of your stakeholders and customers. It’s written at the top of our Values: We think like business leaders – not just experts in our disciplines – to deliver impactful solutions focused on your needs. 


We put a lot of emphasis on our Values for a very good reason. We didn’t define them. We didn’t even try. What we did was ask our clients what it feels like to work with MCR, and what you most value from your engagement of us. So our values are actually your values, and your genuinely lived experience of working with us. Just take a look also at a few of our testimonials – or talk to our clients if you’d like to get a better feel for us. 


So, 10 years down the road, what have we achieved? We all have our own personal highlights of course. Rather than try to speak for the team, I am just going to roll-call a few of  the most memorable and different clients and projects: 

  • A global specialty “life cycle management” pharmaceutical firm – who engaged us to support the HR function during a critical period of change for the business, during which we delivered a number of key projects including the implementation of a new organisation structure, change management and M&A support;
  • An international battery chemicals and EV technology start-up – who engaged us to design the global grading and incentives structures as the business scales up internationally;
  • A leading, internationally recognised Art & Design University in the UK – who engaged us for nearly 3 years across an extensive programme of work in which we delivered institution-wide strategic workforce plans as the University prepares for a transformational shift in the student, learning and funding landscapes, along with organisational development, learning and development, talent and succession planning strategies for the University;
  • A global talent sourcing and solutions firm – who engaged us to design a tailored and holistic relocation policy and process – including auditing the current global mobility process, mapping third party suppliers, clarifying what currently adds value and what’s missing, designing “mobility guardrails” and aligning current process, and setting up external vendors;
  • A global American medical technology company – who engaged us for 2 years to lead and deliver a major employee benefits integration project across the EMEA region and Canada, covering more than 25 countries;
  • A rapidly growing international pharmaceutical firm – who have engaged us over a period of about 3 years to lead and deliver multiple projects including a Total Reward review, Strategic Workforce Planning, an HR Systems Audit and other ad hoc Strategic HR advice;
  • A global market research firm – we were engaged by our market leading client in this sector to lead and deliver a sales incentives review and redesign project, covering more than 30 countries;
  • A global power generation business – who engaged us to lead and develop the Global Reward Function providing strategic reward advice, process ownership of all regular and cyclical reward and incentives activity, advice to the Remuneration Committee and support on international mobility;
  • More than 15 UK Whitehall Government Departments and Agencies – for whom we have delivered major Civil Service pay reform and other HR change assignments. Our projects included stakeholder engagement at the highest levels and successful negotiation of the change proposals with senior officials in Cabinet Office and His Majesty’s Treasury;
  • An international, independent schools group – who engaged us to create and implement a business-driven, fair and competitive reward strategy for the Schools, covering the Leadership Team and all other organisational grades.


We often say it, and we mean it. MCR is yours. Designed for you, through your lens, not ours. Thank you for joining us on this journey.


Mike Curtis

MCR VALUES

We asked our clients what it feels like to work with MCR. We’ve captured this feedback in defining our values.


The Values ensure we put our clients’ interests first, always. They provide a North Star for the team, to ensure a consistent style and approach in all interactions with our clients, prospects and partners. They make space for empowerment and creativity, whilst staying in line with the MCR brand and our reputation for quality and service. And they highlight what makes MCR unique to inspire the team to continue to build MCR into the most highly valued and respected consultancy of our type.

WE ARE

Customer Centric

We seek to: Understand our clients’ business, strategic priorities and plans, their market, the competition; what makes their business tick. Really get to know our client contacts and their senior stakeholders; what keeps them awake at night. Think like business leaders – not just experts in our disciplines – viewing everything through the business lens to develop impactful, practical and efficient solutions which deliver results. Refresh, augment or adapt our capabilities and delivery structure continually around client needs.

WE ARE

Flexible & Responsive

We seek to: Work with a ‘can do’ mindset at all times, adapting our approach when our clients’ needs or priorities change. Anticipate potential issues and be ahead of the curve when change happens, bringing creative ideas and insightful proposals. Understand the real-world pressures our clients face, working in partnership to balance the urgent and important.

WE ARE

Professional

We apply professional expertise in our respective fields. We seek to: Have a finger on the pulse of our professional field to bring fresh thinking to our clients. Contribute to thought-leadership, sharing our know-how with clients, partners and colleagues. Provide practical advice, based on the breadth and depth of consulting and in-house practitioner experience in our team.

WE ARE

Quality & Service Orientated

We seek to: Get the small things right as well as the big things. Understand what is most valuable for our clients and deliver to this, exceeding expectations whenever possible. Listen and learn, seeking feedback to continue to enhance our service and add further value.

WE ARE

People People

We seek to: Be professional and human in the way we interact, seeing both the person and their business in the round. Work with everyone in a transparent, open and inclusive way, valuing differences in thinking and approach. Build and maintain long-term trusted relationships with our clients, partners and colleagues. Come together as one team working collegiately, knowing the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

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