Our story begins on April 1, 1973 when Bob Nolan launched the Robert E. Nolan Company management consulting firm.
It was an interesting time to take such a leap. The country had fallen into a serious recession with unemployment spiking from 5% to 8.3%, inflation headed to 12.2% by year end, and productivity in the United States slowing faster than other members of the then G-7.
While the recession of 1973 to 1975 may have been a risky time for a start-up consulting firm, Nolan saw the opportunity to become a catalyst for company leaders to improve productivity and control costs. The launch of The Nolan Company included the development of Advance Office Controls (AOC), a proprietary methodology we developed in order to accurately and economically measure and report on productivity levels throughout an organization. Within a few years, it became the methodology of choice for more than 200 insurance companies and banks.
The field of productivity improvement has changed substantially since the AOC days, and so has The Nolan Company. Over time we have gained invaluable and unique knowledge about what drives operational improvement. That experience is embedded in our approach, based on the principle that our value to the client is to help achieve measurable results.
Over the years we have focused on a process of evolution in our methodologies, approaches and service offerings – not abandoning the previous, but building on them and taking them to the next logical level. Organizationally, we evolved when healthcare insurance/managed care became distinct from other forms of insurance, resulting in Nolan having three practices serving the insurance, healthcare and banking industries. Technology, once a separate Nolan division, now permeates all that we do and is an integral part of each practice.
One area where we have not changed is our culture. Common throughout the last 40 years has been our focus on hiring top-level talent, all of whom have worked in the industries we serve. We have created an environment that provides relationship-driven value for both clients and our internal team. Among our proudest achievements is that today a third of our team members have been with the company for at least 10 years, and many others have been on the Nolan team for more than 25 years.
