Booz & Company Reviews

Pros

-The firm really invests in employee development. They have a robust assessment program and mentorship program.
-The people at Booz are highly intelligent, down-to-earth, and friendly. Great to work with!

Cons

-Employees have little flexibility in the types of projects they are staffed.
-Firm is very risk adverse and hesitant to expand work into new, innovative, and growing areas.

Advice to Senior Management

You should communicate more to employees. Large organizational decisions were made and implemented with very little information flowing down to the employees. This created an atmosphere of insecurity that was highly destructive and distracting.

Pros

Amazing group of mentors and network that have rallied around me to ensure I get the development I need and continue to advance in the firm

Cons

Has a broad set of capabilities and offerings they can take to clients, but some functions and practices are better integrated than others

Advice to Senior Management

Stay focused on the client and the team, feels like at time partners are focused on their comp payout/ revenue goals, as long as serving the client's most important issues and developing the juniors, growth will follow

Pros

An great place filled with truly dynamic people, Booz is a great place to launch or accelerate a career, or make a long-term home for those interested in career consulting. As someone who has worked at multiple consulting firms the key advantages are:

-A dynamic entrepreneurial environment; unlike the rest of MB3 consultants at Booz are free to work across many clients and launch their own products and offerings. Regardless of level, if you can think up a great project and a client wants to buy it you are free to do so.
-A truly diverse environment; the company is filled not only with top tier MBAs, but PHDs, industry experts, and top consultants from various backgrounds and all parts of the world
-Embracing the future: The company's new strategy is replacing the Monday-Thursday paradigm with a more flexible, and impactful travel model. We go onsite and meet with our clients where and when it makes sense, not just because its the thing to do.

Cons

While more flexible than other places the hours are still long and the work is still challenging, and management consulting is not everyone's cup of tea.

While the overall firm is leading the way with a new work model, change takes time and as team member you have to be cognizant of the style of people around you.

The hub offices offer great experiences for employees (e.g., New York, San Fran, Chicago, etc.), but some partners still insist on maintaining and attempting to recruit to offices off the beaten path (e.g., Cleveland) and need to come to terms with the reality of where high value consultants want to work and live in the new economy.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to believe in and push the new strategy and operating models.

Pros

Work with global organization on relevant business issues, international teams, clear and transparent performance management

Cons

Compensation not aligned to best in class consulting firms, little attention to work life balance, not enough recognition of functional practices

Pros

Flexible, Compassionate, Hard working team members

Cons

Management does not always keep its employees up to date with info they should know.

Pros

Good reputation, a reasonable amount of training provided, robust performance management and I was lucky enough to be involved in many interesting and diverse projects. Some of the senior management team were excellent role models and fantastic leaders.

Cons

Some of the senior management team (Partners and Principals in particular) were motivated by the $ targets required to retain their own level, more than managing and coaching staff to bring out their best.

Advice to Senior Management

Remember that the key to creating and retaining good staff is being a good leader and coach, providing constructive feedback, and walking your talk. If you can motivate and retain good staff the $ required to meet your targets will follow, as clients will want to re-engage the talented and authentic staff you have retained.

Pros

Great colleagues. Great experience and great compensation. A chance to build lasting client relationships at senior levels. An opportunity to grow your career both at Booz and beyond.

Cons

Expectations that you will work long hours. There is an inconsistency between how partners treat staff, some really care, while others see staff as just a resource.

Advice to Senior Management

Set standards for work life balance, staffing requirements, etc, and introduce consequences for partners who do not follow the standards.

Pros

Work with great people and great company culture. Firm has a great mentorship model, that breeds leader. Many opportunities to continue to grow your career within and beyond the firm.

Cons

Lots of hours. Partners have very different behaviors some are very open and friendly with the junior staff, others see staff as nothing but resources.

Advice to Senior Management

Set clear expectations on what it takes to get ahead. Introduce consequences for seniors who do not adhere to overall firm expectations.

Pros

Good upside if you can bring an account to the firm which generates over $2m / year as an experienced hire (ie Principal level). As long as you maintain a pyramid, your utilization is high and you contribute significantly to revenue and getting others below you chargeable then you will be in good shape.

Cons

Siloed organization in which each partner is his/her own P&L. If you are not part of one of these teams you will not be successful. Too much busywork with poor priorization (eg pursuing proposals that have no chance to win). Industrial approach to consulting (ie re-use of old slides and frameworks). Poor or no market differentiation. Mediocre, non-visionary leadership prevents revenue growth and market expansion. Lack of scale and lack of superior skills (ie statistical analysis, key functional skills like supply chain or CRM). Primary industry focus limited to CPG, Health, Energy and non-US telco.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop saying how great you are, open your eyes and your minds and hire McKinsey to help you with your growth strategy. Take a chance and invest in the future in the right way by scaling up the organization and the skillset of your people. Choose the right functions and offer services in those only. Stop pretending Booz can do anything. It cannot. Treat people better and invest in a decent knowledge management system.

Pros

Access to multiple companies / senior management in a short period of time
Access to best practices across industries you are interested in

Cons

Long hours, travel Monday - Thursday - as for any other consulting company
As you plan to move out it is hard to make a case on functional knowledge to potential employees

Advice to Senior Management

Learn how to provide the right work life balance to employees