Monitor Group Reviews

Pros

work/life balance - great PTO policies

Cons

Lots of turf wars. Company could run more efficiently.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more open to other opinions

Pros

Great culture.
Fun people.
Beautiful offices.
Really smart people. Very creative.
Interesting work.

Cons

They will work you to death. Hard to balance family with work.
No recognition, low compensation for non-consultants.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop recreating the wheel. The firm does not need to be reinvented every two years.

Pros

Great strategy oriented work (Not operational stratey masked as strategy by some companies)

Chilled out, collegial people

Firm back on growth path

Good relationships with top management esp. in some key markets / practices

Entrepreneurial environment with a can do attitude historically

Cons

Firm needs to reestablish internally the faith in consultants on vision, differentiation, and scope for consultants going ahead

Some GAMs / senior management seems to be hanging on despite working less than what they would at other firms - no clear client networks, no major sales, no major thought leadership. So, consultants are asking is that the role model we want to grow up to be?

No clear up or out - leads to people 'floating in the system' with no real motivation to work hard and comfot that they won't be asked to leave. This is leading to a complacent culture that can very quickly spread like a virus

Advice to Senior Management

Wake up, separate boys from men, and tell boys to grow or go

Pros

Exposure to high profile, senior clients
Solid learning experience of marketing and strategy
Opportunity to take on responsibility quickly

Cons

Little to no work-life balance
Develop at your own pace approach can lead to a feeling on not advancing

Advice to Senior Management

Develop clearer career plans for employees. People shouldn't remain at the candidate leader (junior partner) position for several years

Pros

Good company if you are a consultant not so good if you are working in any other department. Good possibilities of promotion if you put in a mad amount of hours

Cons

They expect the consultants to work v hard, they make the young consultants work silly hours and only then will they consider you for promotion. A high turnover

Advice to Senior Management

Relax, dont take yourselves so seriously and listen to what other staff, outside of consultants, have to offer you in regards to advice

Pros

- Smart people, great culture, very meritocratic
- Lots of opportunities to develop and take responsibility
- Firm is finally getting its act together - communication has improved, more insight into expectations and career paths, stronger leadership

Cons

- Like many consulting firms, long hours
- Need to do a better job of managing expectations of new hires and junior employees - false expectation that there is tons of flexibility to work on whatever project you want (can make it difficult to staff teams for some of the less "sexy" work)

Advice to Senior Management

- Need to recruit more aggressively and create more flexibility to address up-ticks in demand
- Need to move even more quickly on internal human assets initiative

Pros

The people. The clients. The nature of the challenges.

Most of all though, it's the people. Most people go into management consulting with the intention of moving onto different industries / sectors, and the network of exceptional people you build is the most valuable part of the job.

Cons

Lower compensation relative to peer companies, and a lack of focus on this as the most critical issue facing the firm. If top consulting compensation is your goal, Monitor is probably not the right fit, given its hiring competitiveness relative to firms that pay better.

There is a bit of a "star" mentality for HR at Monitor. While it's good to reward your "stars" more, its the middle and middle-top that does the bulk of the good work Monitor is known for.

Advice to Senior Management

Monitor Group needs to focus on profitability, and distributing those profits as compensation to retain and recruit top people. The firm sometimes has trouble focusing on economic/commercial success vs. other goals (e.g., breadth of clients, new client acquisition, "sexy" new ideas, etc.).

Pros

Great culture. Great people. Great insights into various industries. All and all, a great place to start and to figure out what I want to do with my life.

Cons

It's hard to balance the work load. Some nights I would be done early and others I would be hunched over my desk all night.

Advice to Senior Management

Overall, as a junior person, I did not see much of the leadership or overall strategy, but I credit them with creating the great office culture I encountered at Monitor.

Pros

Great career opportunity, nice culture

Cons

lower salaries compared to peer firms

Advice to Senior Management

increase salary

Pros

Great culture, people and place to learn consulting skills

Cons

In the process of moving from "founders run firm" to "partners run firm"

Advice to Senior Management

None