Brown Brothers Harriman Reviews

Pros

Good salary & benefits
Partners really do care about employees
Most workers are strictly 9 to 5
Easy work/life balance

Cons

Most workers are strictly 9 to 5
Very lean on the admin side
Not much investment in new technology
Systems (IT) group is like working with a union
Too much micro managing

Advice to Senior Management

Thank you for getting us through the enormous downturn in 2009
Open the purse just a little on the admin side

Pros

Fair to good compensation
Good health benefits
Good name for your resume
Friendly atmosphere
Good work-life balance

Cons

Huge disconnect between senior and mid-level management
Growth opportunities are extremely limited
Compensation geared less towards performance based more towards tenure and popularity
Poor working environment, lower-level management is left to their own devices, results in a needlessly stressful environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to work on company structure, currently functions as many autonomous pieces, without communication with each other or senior management.
Work on integrating different parts of company
More oversight and communication is needed across the company
Company culture is outdated, need to be refined, merit-based awards/recognition is minimal, promotion opportunities, transfer opportunities severely limited, seems like a who-you-know type of firm

Pros

Great atmosphere, respectable co-workers, decent salary

Cons

Salary not as high as other banks

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work

Pros

Prestigious name and reputation, friendly staff

Cons

Management offered little support and minimal training

Advice to Senior Management

Invest more in future talent instead of adding them as another cog in the machine

Pros

Great place to work if you're looking for stability and work/life balance.
Very supportive of higher education.

Cons

Workplace could be more dynamic.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus efforts on bringing systems up to date to compete with top competitors.

Pros

There are frequent opportunities to work on projects outside of immediate job responsibilities. There is a collegiate/supportive spirit among colleagues. There are many long tenured employees leading to a consistent company culture, this is also evidence of job stability. Managing partner provides frequent updates on status of the business.

Cons

Pay is reliable, but lower compared to some competitors. Not all managers are supportive of career changes within the company. It is difficult to find vertical growth opportunities because of the small size. US centric mentality.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide clearer vision of long-term career growth for employees. Walk the talk in terms of traditional diversity. Encourage lower level management to welcome the idea of of mobility within BBH rather than losing talent.

Pros

Benefits, pay, tuition reimbursement (excellent), privately held. Working directly with senior mgmt and clients in foeard facing fund accounting/client service role. Willing to built technology and services groups for clients needs, changes internal models to work with clients.

Cons

Some technology (but also a plus).

Advice to Senior Management

Communication, increase TL, VP roles in client facing environment, espcially in new Hedge/PE client business.

Pros

stable, never layed off employee even in the financial crysis. Decent work environment and location in downtown with easy access to public transpotation.

Cons

Jobs in systems carry a lot of responsibility during off business hours. Whenerver there is an issue even 2 oclock in the morning you need to respond righ away.

Advice to Senior Management

Find talents from all employees even most of them are dump. The culture of BBH kept too many people with no contribution what's so ever.

Pros

This is one of the few firms that still prides itself in its integrity and keeps that value close to the heart. It never looked for TARP money. Employees do not need to hang their heads when asked for whom they work. Overall the employees are friendly, courteous individuals, and even Partners will stop to speak with you, regardless of rank. Work-life balance is also a hallmark of the firm. Telecommuting, flexible work weeks, etc., are open for discussion with one's manager. Recent years have seen the partnership take a serious look at benefits, salaries, bonuses, and the promotion process. The results have been improvements on all fronts.

Cons

Competency of management varies greatly by line of business and division. Decisions can often suffer "death by committee", causing issues to languish or new initiatives to "miss the boat". Projects can abruptly start and end because top management is constantly reshuffling. The Systems area is the most disfunctional line of business observed.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to work towards greater transparency of the promotion process. Clean house in Systems. Top managers consider the self-review portion of the annual review process to be optional. Some systems managers do not bother writing reviews or cut and paste the previous year's review into the new year.

Set up five year plans for each line of business and stick with them (look at what Ford accomplished). Shifting gears each year because of some internal partnership struggle only hurts the firm as a whole. It is also demoralizing for those working on the projects. There is no feeling of accomplishment.

Pros

-good internship to put on your resume
-location
-the summer party at Fenway Park with steak, lobsters, and free Sam Adams
-event planning for interns

Cons

-quality of work could get a little boring but that is typical in any internship
-manager did not keep me busy enough

Advice to Senior Management

allow interns to take on more challenging work