A Lasting Legacy

Everyone is a partner driving success

Raj Khanna immigrated to America with $7 in his pocket and a dream to build a technology company from the ground up. He became a subject-matter expert in artificial intelligence and strategically evolved into a minority entrepreneur. With two small daughters, Khanna founded RK Management Consultants Inc., referred to as RKMC, in 1988 as a technology consulting services firm that places great emphasis on quality and family. Today, RKMC is a trusted global IT staffing and consulting services firm catering to clients across various industries with approximately 100 resources on client assignments.

A Family Affair

Khanna’s two daughters, Nidhi Kapoor and Natasha Khanna, grew up watching the company adapt to the changing buying habits and needs of its clients. Both are now leaders in the organization — Kapoor serves as president of RKMC, while Khanna is vice president of client delivery — proudly growing and evolving the company to meet the vast and varied needs of modern clients while honoring their father’s legacy of quality, work ethic and incomparable client care.

And its family roots still hold strong. “Anyone working at RKMC is a part of the family, and we are honored of their choice to do so,” Kapoor notes. “This is especially true for our internal team, as they are the backbone of our organization and help us achieve all that we do.”

Those aren’t just words. Director of Sales Enablement Andre Walker, who has been with RKMC for almost three years, says the leaders not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk. He recalls a time — pre-pandemic — when an internal employee considered leaving to be closer in proximity to care for aging family. Rather than lose a valuable employee, RKMC found a way for that employee, whose job was hands-on in the office, to work remotely. “They understand family is important. If you are worried about your family, you can’t focus well on work,” Walker says. “The ‘family comes first’ philosophy comes from being a family-run business.”

Partner in Success

RKMC does not focus on employee hierarchy. Kapoor explains that everyone who is a part of the organization is critical to the company’s success: “We want everyone to feel included, safe and cared for. Taking care of your employees means they will take care of the customer,” which means being a partner, not just a supplier of talent.

Empowering staff as partners means providing training in how to listen to the client for cues, identify pain points and opportunities, and look for business model alignment. This is Walker’s focus as director of sales enablement. “While other companies are more focused on numbers, we focus on making the right placement and solidifying long-term relationships,” he shares. “Several clients have been with us for over 15 years, which is a testament to our investment in client relationships and ability to evolve to meet their changing needs.”

Indrani Nath, client delivery lead, couldn’t agree more. “Yes, we have metrics, but it’s more about looking for quality candidates,” she says. “When we focus on quality and providing the best fi t for the client, the metrics tend to follow.” According to Kapoor, quality is one of the company’s key differentiators, brought to life through personalized touch and deep understanding of clients’ needs. They invest in employees by providing training, coaching and routine team check-ins.

“We work hard to ensure goals are aligned and we have buy-in across the organization,” Kapoor shares. This creates an internal collaborative focus on meeting client needs in delivering top talent. Kapoor explains, “This time investment creates more rapport in the industry and leads to even more referrals and opportunities, helping us grow.”

Value Driven

At RKMC, values are more than words on a page — they are mantras brought to life by leaders, like Kapoor, who model them. Quality, integrity, perseverance and accountability are values that RKMC employees embody. With an employee base in India, Kapoor also emphasizes the importance of acting as “One Global Team.” Kapoor and Khanna have worked hard to ensure the barriers of hierarchy were removed so there is a direct line of communication across domestic and offshore employees. Kapoor reflects, “The investment in this connection has resulted in high performance across teams. It has been amazing to see the bonds and success this has created for both our internal teams and employees we have on client assignments!”

As a minority woman leader working in the male-dominated tech industry, Kapoor feels strongly that RKMC is deliberate in making sure the company is representative of the world and its diversity. “We truly have an opportunity to make the world a better place,” she says, starting with inclusion and fostering a growth mindset within. Walker agrees wholeheartedly: “I was looking for a company that embraced and celebrated diversity,” and he found it at RKMC. Similarly, Nath speaks to the company’s growth mindset, sharing, “The entire team has a mindset of focusing on what we can do and control, versus what is not working. We stay focused on moving forward.”

Resounding Commitment

Walker began working at RKMC nine months before Covid-19 hit and offices went remote. Despite being physically separated from his coworkers, Walker credits the pandemic for making them stronger. “Covid sharpened our business acumen,” he explains. They strategically expanded into risk-averse industries such as government, healthcare and education, applying the same quality-driven principles that made them successful and signing several significant new deals as a result. Moreover, RKMC ensured no employee’s job was eliminated due to the impact of Covid.

When the internal staff was ready to return to a hybrid model at their Chicago headquarters, the leadership team gathered to reflect on and celebrate their progress. Moreover, they faced the future with renewed resolve, assessing opportunities for improvement and challenging themselves to ensure the focus on quality prevailed. Kapoor recalls the powerful moment when the internal team was asked if they believed in the direction the company was headed. With great conviction, not only was the answer a resounding “Yes,” but they asked to raise the bar higher. Kapoor proudly shares, “There is a high degree of buy-in and belief in what we can do together.” According to Nath, the company’s fresh look at strategy is setting them up for incredible growth potential. “I’m really excited to be a part of this,” she says. “We have some big goals, but the leadership is there doing the work right alongside us.”

A Great Place to Work

Both Walker and Nath cite RKMC leadership as part of what makes the company a great place to work. “They are truly invested in the company and its employees,” Nath explains. “Transparency at the leadership level is above and beyond what you see at other companies.” Walker agrees, adding, “The leaders care about you as a person. They are altruistic and generous with both time and knowledge.”

For Nath, being at RKMC enabled her to put her passions and expertise to use, even though she has only been with the company for six months. She was thrilled to be included in the strategic planning process, helping to establish internal goals and action plans for the company’s future. On working at RKMC, she happily shares, “I am making more of an impact, using my expertise and feeling much more satisfied with my work.”

Walker, an aspiring chef, sums up the secret sauce at RKMC well: “A dash of perseverance, a lot of nurturing, a sprinkle of how to deal with challenges and a heaping teaspoon of autonomy.” Now that sounds like a recipe for a great place to work!