Apply Your Own IP to Yourself - Director Korn Ferry Employee Review

2.0
Jun 12, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Smart, talented people doing good work beneath the c-suite and lots of flexibility.

Cons

• Expensive benefits. Health insurance cost more than $1100 a month, and the 401(k) is a joke -- how can a $2B company offer a discretionary match? I joined KF through an acquisition and the cost of benefits resulted in me taking a 25% hit to my take-home pay. • Disappointing culture, where success is predicated on personal closeness to Gary Burnison or how much you publicly profess your love for Korn Ferry. I've never worked anywhere so self-congratulatory. • Pleads poverty at every turn when it comes to resources, raises, or promotions •Awful onboarding and training—you get a PDF and links to one-size-fits-all videos. They introduced a mentorship program, but mentors were assigned based on tenure at KF, not actual seniority or career levels, so someone at a more senior level could (and often did) get matched with less experienced staff. • Despite public declarations otherwise, people do not matter here. All that matters is shareholders. This is evident from how they balanced the COVID-19 challenges on the backs of staff (mass layoffs and across-the-board double-digit salary cuts). More care was put into communicating the death of a board member than the layoffs and cutbacks.

Explore other reviews about Korn Ferry

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

room to grow, own your success

Cons

no cons at this time.

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 High expectations with outdated systems, manual processes, inefficient.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.

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