McGladrey Reviews in New York City, NY Area

Pros

Opportunity to be part of a growing company, especially in Consulting. I have been fortunate to have great personal and professional experiences within my group and even with my client(s). I am never scared to approach my boss for anything.

Cons

McGladrey's name is not yet as well recognized as that of the big four accounting firms.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the benefits coming - small expenses (relative, when compared to salary increases) like giving everyone iPads are very meaningful to employees (it's the little things!).

Pros

I worked with a good team and the benefits were decent. Work - Life balance was, at least in Consulting, doable.

Cons

There were a lot of internal politics and posturing. No clear or qualified leadership. No recognition for doing what really mattered - only that which drove artificial goals.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to employees more, engage them, and realize that they are your biggest asset. Then figure who the best leaders are and let them lead.

Pros

McGladrey is like a normal CPA firm. Different variety of basic and complex work to gain lots of experience. CPA Reimbursement.

Cons

Definitely no work like balance. Work is not evenly distributed. Some people get more work than other. Compensation still not up to level with competitors.

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to make an effective way to "really" take care of their people and award them in the right way for all the hard work.

Pros

- National firm
- Open doors to other good opportunities

Cons

- Slower growth prospects but it all depends

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing at this time.

Pros

you can meet a lot of good people; it's a friendly environment overall. The benefits are not too bad as compared to other companies. Also, depending on which line of business you work for--you may have the option of working from home.

Cons

Generally, hard and smart workers are not rewarded accordingly and at times do not get recognized at all. The bonuses are extremely cheap; and the raises don't count for much either...you're basically adding a couple of dollars to your paycheck...literally.

There is so much work to get done and you are often grinding from the time your day starts until you go home-- which you may not be leaving at a decent time. When you get home, you will find yourself responding to emails because people contact you afterwork hours with requests, projects they'd like you to work, questions they want answers to, etc... There are not enough workers yet A LOT of work to be done. McGladrey has ongoing layoffs which means that the workload with triple up for you since you're already doing double duty. And they've made no plans for replacements -- that's why it's done through layoffs and not straight firing.

Employee morale is low, the Leaders want you to work harder so they can make more money-- & don't hold your breath for your raise or bonus. Don't get me wrong, you WILL get it however, you will be shocked by the amount. The smaller regional CPA firms pay better-- Big 4 without a doubt pays better. The upside to staying there is that you will meet a lot of nice people (meaning staff) who are in the same boat as you and with similar observations/complaints.

The firm is constantly restructuring--you never know which direction the firm is heading. Employee turnover is extremely high (10-20 resignations per week!!!!) because people are so unhappy. A lot of good people have left the firm not even for career transition but have mainly gone to competitors and private industry doing the same line of work.

Advice to Senior Management

Show your employees that you appreciate them by compensating fairly. Yes money does matter--after all, isn't upper management getting paid well??? I'm sure you would share the same sentiments if you were not getting the pay you deserve. Also, management needs to staff appropriately and assume client work accordingly. You can't get laying off people and acquiring more work and expect the remaining staff to be productive and/or produce quality work while being overloaded. Management needs to be more organized as well--there are too many restructures going on--every year (sometimes 2x a year). Make up your minds regarding which direction the company is going and be sure that it's profitable for your business, your reputation in the market and your employees. That would put an end to the ongoing turnover.

Pros

Flexible workplace. Some directors/managers are knowledgeable and helpful..

Cons

Training is poor and you learn on your own mostly. Scheduling of workload is messy and is not based on your level and not really aimed to develop you. Getting the products out ASAP is the first priority.

Advice to Senior Management

Mgmt needs to motivate staff, fewer changes, fewer layoffs, assess people more fairly based on a job well done.

Pros

The company promotes hard working and ambition

Cons

The competition inside the company for promotion is huge

Advice to Senior Management

Have better evaluation system

Pros

The only pro I've encountered was the flexibility to work remotely if you are unable to make it to the office/client.

Cons

Where do I begin... I will start with communication, which is practically non-existent at the firm even though it is emphasized greatly - employees find out about changes at the last minute (if at all). Leading by the example, the group leaders as well as engagement team management is also very bad, as essential information regarding staffing is dissimilated poorly (such as employees leaving, staff moved to other engagements/staff availability, client communication to managers and/or directors is not forwarded to staff timely, etc). There does not seem to be clear structure of what needs to be done, affecting performance.
There is also no clear understanding as to what one is expected to do or what was done badly, until it’s time for the year end evaluations. Again, there is no communication between managers and staff. It felt as if this is done on purpose, just to cover all basis in case decision makers decide to reward based on favoritism, rather than performance (favoritism is another issue, but hey that seems to be the case in many firms/companies). Employees are not rewarded for a job well done or going above and beyond; errors are magnified and staff is penalized for errors often caused by miscommunication.
Firm seems to be very big on hiring staff for the busy season and then lay off in April-may. Training is mostly on the job, and it involves management NOT devoting sufficient time to teach - basically one is left alone with problems and there don’t seem to be anyone who can guide in the process.

Advice to Senior Management

Communication & Employee recognition/retention

Pros

Certain partners are micro-mangers which adds increasing time to budget and reduces profitability for which the managers are held accountable.

Cons

Directors/Partners are back-stabbers. They hold frequent lunch meetings to talk disparigingly about subordintes. Fees charged client and related budgets are unacheivable unless you 'eat' time.

Advice to Senior Management

Lead by examples.

Pros

This place knows how to treat its employees and what is needed to further enchance the company's growth. Company knows how to deal with its clients.

Cons

The hours can be a little too much during busy season but compared to the Big 4, its not as bad.

Advice to Senior Management

The management does a wonderful job and they dont hog all the praise for themselves. If you do a good job, they will commend you.