Barclays Global Investors Reviews

Pros

People are generally nice, smart, and have fire in the belly.

Egos are checked at the door (and if not, are shown the door).

Employees are given opportunities to grow their careers (caveat: it's pretty much sink or swim).

Cons

There is a leadership vacuum at BGI that has been sucking the life out of the firm (and its people) for years.

This is not a female-friendly firm (check the public superior court records for San Francisco County to see how many lawsuits have been filed against BGI by women for unlawful termination). These are just the stories on record.

Highly political business environment, driven by Barclays.

Looking for a fire drill? You found it!

Advice to Senior Management

Lead by example.

Pros

competitive compensation; knowledgeable people to work with; true belief in the products

Cons

poor people-managers are all over the place

Advice to Senior Management

morale will keep sliding as long as internal talent keeps getting overlooked for promotions

Pros

In other other company will you find the caliber of performance and intellectual capacity than at BGI. Here you will be surrounded with the most brilliant people in the industry working on pioneering projects. Each person at BGI is valued for their insight and contribution to the specific projects that they are working on.
BGI encourages innovation and passion in each endeavor and truly allows their employees full ownership and leeway in how and what they execute.
You never get the sense that people at BGI are out for themselves. It is truly a team atmosphere and you will not only gain colleagues that you can learn from, but foster many relationships and friends.

Cons

Some of the disadvantages at working at BGI is the level of expectation given team members. People in this company are expected to deliver results and perform well above the average. In many ways this can be arduous as a level of competition can sometimes occur and many people work long hours in order to achieve goals.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management needs to be stronger at making decisions and ensuring that goals set are met. Process and management of projects should be stricter and exceptions to rules should be rare rather than the norm.

Pros

Lots of experienced professionals to learn from. I have a good manager who works very hard and understanding. I hardly go to many long meetings. Many employees have been around BGI for a long time, so they stuck around for a good reason.

Cons

Since I have only been with BGI for a few months, I have not experienced much downside except for the fact that management have told everyone that bonus will be cut significantly. This is 4 months after BGI's internal recruiter told me how great the bonus program was. Can't really complain though considering what is going on with our economy.

There are a lot of forms that needs to be filled (mostly online) just to do something. I have to fill up timesheets, project time trackers, change management, development plans, KTOs, etc etc. Not used to it comming from a startup.

Too many different development groups that some projects are done more than once

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your people well and the favor will be given back. Not that I am not treaated well, just a general feedback.

Pros

I've been with the company for a while primarily because of the bonus pay. Since the good days are behind us there are few reasons to stay with poor senior managers.

Cons

BGI does not do a good job of mentoring or succession planning. This really limits opportunities for employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Look to your current direct reports as people that may one day succeed you. This will change your interactions with them and help you focus on developing talent instead of just recording time stamps.

Pros

Everyone you talk to will tell you that the culture at BGI is great. For the most part, the culture is fair and respectful. There are not a lot of "investment banking" types walking around the hallways. If you have a good idea, it will be heard and BGI will give you enough leeway to pursue an idea.

Cons

It can be tough to make a lateral move from one group to the next. Whatever group you're in, you tend to stay in that group for a very long time. Also, I've heard people say that there are too many PhD types running the business when there should be more MBA types. Leave the research up to the PhDs and the business management to the MBAs.

Advice to Senior Management

In general, they are doing a good job. it will be interesting to see how they get through 2009.

Pros

Work life balance is highly valued at BGI. Whereas many IT professionals sacrifice balance for career growth or financial rewards, at BGI this is not necessary.

Cons

Career growth for an IT professional is limited. Even though BGI has a large IT organization, it is managed primarily by career managers who often have little experience in the areas they manage. Worse yet, the product management presence at BGI is comprised primarily of MBA types with no experience in web products and who insist on a vertical top-down command style of product development. There doesn't seem to be a good working relationship between technical and design professionals and their in-house clients and product managers. I've witnessed BGI make many serious mistakes. If you'd like to relive the mistakes of 1998, then you'll love web development and online product development at BGI.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire some product management folks from outside your insular world and respect the talents, experiences and skills you have in house.

Pros

Strong, profitable company that has opportunity to really grow admist troubled investment management industry. There are also excellent benefits. The salaries are average at best but the bonuses tend to make up for it and are above average for similar positions at other companies. The new building is very nice and the company is very supportive of continuing education.

Cons

Long work hours and flat organizational structure meaning few opportunities for advancement. The company has grown faster than could be managed effectively and is now going through some growing pains. There are a lot of fiefdoms which are all treated differently. Think carefully about which division to join.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more open about what is going on in the company. There is a lack of transparency here that can be frustrating at times.

Pros

Large reputable firm in the industry. Fair compensation.

Cons

Sometimes it feels like there just no room to move up the corporate ladder. It can also feel like there is just too much office politics and managers/employees are largely looking out for their own interests.

Advice to Senior Management

Encouragement of sharing knowledge and collaboration of projects. Even reward evidence of such work.

Pros

BGI is a well known industry name and brings with it a lot of prestige. Its Transition Management group is particulary well regarded. The overall compensation package is good, but by no means industry leading, having said that you are well looked after and when recognition is given the bonus package can be quite substantial.

Cons

The organistion as a whole is a victim of its own success, it that it suffers from unnecessary bureacracy, and more often than not your career within the organisation tends to be based on sideways movement rather than upward progression. There is also little chance to make your ideas and opinions heard and communication regarding the corporate strategic goals, barring 'Lyndsey's Blog', is not often forthcoming.

Advice to Senior Management

- Create a more structure career development program
 - More interaction with staff and various levels where possible