Monitor Group Reviews

Pros

Highly challenging projects
True international culture in Euope
Company really seeking for thought leadership and developping ideas to be applied in a tangible manner

Cons

As in every consultancy there are senior people who could not care less for the consultants working for them, making you feel only as a "ressource"

Advice to Senior Management

Think of alumni as people who should really keep strong ties with

Pros

Intellectual capital, pedigree, some bright partners, flexible / entrepreneural work environment, international mobility, top clients, good cross functional project opportunities

Cons

Below industry average pay, always finding execuses to not pay bonuses, practically no training, "group of companies" concept doesn't really work

Advice to Senior Management

Improve recruiting practices (particularly of MBAs), outline career paths according to measurable objectives, pay in line with the industry, provide more / better training

Pros

-Good culture: good work-life balance, friendly, generally helpful people, not a back-stabbing environment
-Good feedback system: they will work hard to help you improve

Cons

-Company on its way downhill, having failed to establish itself as a provider of high-end, high-margin strategy services for C-level executives
-Senior leadership poorly networked into corporate world, partly due to company focus on horizontal areas of expertise (marketing, innovation etc) rather than vertical industries
-Lower comp packages and prestige compared to McKinsey, Bain etc

Advice to Senior Management

Hire a new CEO from one of the top 4. Downsize and re-focus on top-performing areas, or let high performers have their own associated brands, much like GBN.

Pros

Strong company that keeps employees informed of direction of the firm. Great benefits, good compensation, "work hard/play hard" mindset. Flexible schedule. Firm does a good job of bringing employees together outside of the work environment for networking and team building events. The firm keeps in contact with alumni and those that choose to pursue continuing education programs. All employees have the opportunity to enjoy the company's Red Sox season tickets.

Cons

Long hours, but flexible scheduling. The office space could be developed better in regards to employee interaction on a daily basis.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep pushing the firm in the direction it's headed. It would be fun to have more options for non-work related activities (intramural sports teams, etc.).

Pros

the people! friendly, collaborative, supportive, nice, smart, hard-working.
you never do the same thing twice.
Monitor, unlike other conlting companies, isn't selling a pre-formed solution. they customize their solution depending on client's needs.
deep bench strength: Monitor's network of experts is indeed impressive.

Cons

long hours expected
the confidentiality the clients expect has spread to a culture of secrecy;
it is hard for employees to see what is happening in the company

Advice to Senior Management

improve the website so it's obvious what Monitor offers
have better intra-company communication

Pros

great client diversity and project exposure
people are fun, intelligent and driven

Cons

work-life balance is really tough
pay for work requirement is pretty low

Advice to Senior Management

be more transparent about what future compensation can look like for lower-level employees. They work pretty hard for what they're paid, but more would probably stick around if they knew that compensation improved dramatically over the long term.

Pros

- Really interesting approach to strategy consulting
- Great people from diverse backgrounds
- Opportunity to work with smart clients
- Ample opportunity for professional development

Cons

- Work/Life balance remains a challenge... I know this is true for most consulting firms but this is made especially challenging by Monitor's model of staffing consultants on 2 cases at one time. The upside of this approach is you get double the professional development opportunities, but don't expect time "on the beach"

Advice to Senior Management

Continue bringing in great people! The unique interview process really does help us find amazing people.
Re-consider the 2 case model. It may contribute to higher turnover, especially at the case team lead level.

Pros

fascinating work, nice people, beautiful offices, flexible hours (but always very long), some of my colleagues are incredibly competent and bright

Cons

terrible compensation, long hours, the culture demands perfection in all deliverables (and it's often at the expense of employee morale).

Advice to Senior Management

Pay your employees!

Communicate about bonuses early, often and explicitly -- DO NOT USE AN OFFICE MEETING AS THE ONLY COMMUNICATION FOR LETTING US KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE ZERO BONUS. THAT WAS INCREDIBLY THOUGHTLESS.

Cut the BS about "TAC" -- Total Annual Compensation, and how non-MBAs should focus on their "TAC" and not on their salary -- that's BS. There is no TAC. It's all just salary these days. Why should we stay?

Pros

Reasonable travel (don't live at client site)
Good learning opportunities
Strong healthcare / life sciences business

Cons

Too many challenges with current size and structure. A mid-size firm with big company expectations from employees,but without the scale to make these expectations a reality.

Advice to Senior Management

Sell off the unprofitable units that have been in no/low growth for a while and/or aggressively seek to get acquired

Pros

Very smart people
Some stimulating work
Great way to travel and rack up points & miles
Collegial environment - like to have fun

Cons

Poor communication, especially about company reo-org, layoffs, and bonuses
A lot of people are leaving the firm -- a not nearly enough new folks are coming in
Work-life balance can be a struggle, or a cakewalk -- depends entirely upon your client

Advice to Senior Management

Communication plan needs improvement
Formalized training needs to be reinstated at all consultant levels, not just at the CTL level