Watson Wyatt Reviews

Pros

Great people to work with. The technology is cutting edge. The travel is farless than other consulting companies. Great bonuses and good starting initial pay.

Cons

Horrible work life balance, benefits are almost non existent, and raises are not that great. There is little room for movement.

Advice to Senior Management

See Cons.

Pros

I had a great boss. I learned a great deal from him. He was an Asian expat from The Philippines to the KL office. He's still by far the best boss ever.

Cons

Further developmental opportunities for employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Appreciate the informal meetings and the various work-life balance initiatives.

Pros

Overall a beneficial internship for summer during college. Management (at least the one I was in contact with) was very nice and helpful and allowed a good work/life balance.

Cons

Some of the tasks can be repetitive at times and sometimes there can be misinformation between offices among different locations. Could use a training program.

Advice to Senior Management

I am interested to see how the merger with Towers proceeds. The move was a smart considering the business environment, but integration problems remain to be seen.

Pros

The location was central and easy to get to. Westminster Office.

Cons

Junior and mid level Managers live in terror of Directors. Tasks and information changed at a moments notice. Systems not followed with internal office politics taking centre stage. If your face fits...... or you are in the right grouping. Some staff exercised massive power over areas that were none of their concern by sytematic "back stabbing" At times this seemed to be the main function of some.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop throwing tantrums at the very junior staff and show some leadership.

Pros

Worked with great people
Company takes good care of the team
Frequent perks, food credit, etc.
Great opportunities for advancement

Cons

Some projects seem to last forever
Low vacation time, culture of working long hours
Some competition between offices (not excessive)
High turnover

Advice to Senior Management

Improving the communication between offices would help very much. Also, not sure if this has changed since I was there but file sharing could have been made easier over the network.

Pros

Excellent compensation and benefits
Excellent training program
Supportive and friendly work environment
Collaborative work environment
Many opportunities to learn and grow

Cons

Deadlines can be stressful
Pressure to complete tasks perfectly if you want to get ahead
Hard to get work sometimes, need to be aggressive

Advice to Senior Management

Increase level of communication with new employees
Keep up the good work in providing helpful feedback
The way work is funneled can be improved

Pros

You can pretty much sleep all day at work. As long as you show up on time every day.

Cons

Talents or ideas are not appreciated. Review processes are a joke.

Advice to Senior Management

Fire the stupid people and reward the innovators.

Pros

WW is full of pretty smart, easy going, respectful people. The culture is good, the people are great, work is good. The only problem is hitting a ceiling in salary band.

Cons

The salary band promotion process is okay from bands 1 to 3, a little iffy at band 4, and downright odd at band 5. At the higher levels, its not a meritocricy but a political scheme.

Advice to Senior Management

Change the promotion process. Train managers to give career path options to associates. Offer mid year propotions.

Pros

There are many great reasons to work at Watson Wyatt. High salaries and bonuses which are performance based, are top on the list. The Watson Wyatt brand is well respected in the industry -- this reputation is well deserved.

Cons

I only have 2 complaints about Watson Wyatt. The health insurance option & the Performance Development Program (PDP). There is only one option for health insurance -- a "consumer directed high deductible plan". The PDP is too time consuming.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue what you are doing in commuticating to the employees regarding the (yet to be finalized) merger with Towers Perrin.

Pros

Well established and financially stable.

Cons

Every week is a death march. Little to no feedback on performance. Mid-senior level management would rather spend millions on writing software rather than spend $10k to buy an off-the-shelf solution. Software framework that the division is married to does not appear to have future growth potential. Office politics royally suck. 90%+ of the people I physically worked with are depressed and not satisfied with treatment they receive.

Advice to Senior Management

Hi John,

If I were you I would do a quite, in depth inspection at the Grade 3 and below levels. Your Grade 4 & 5's are pulling the wool over your eyes. It is the worst leadership development plan I have ever seen and does not follow even your own internal guidelines. It sill makes me sick thinking about it nearly a year later.