Watson Wyatt Reviews

Pros

When there is plenty of work and you are billable -- it is a great place. Fun people.

Cons

Not much emphasis on practice development or nonbillable activities needed to build tools to better serve the client and make the practice more efficient. .You must be a billing machine. That is all that matters. Work like a scared animal.

Advice to Senior Management

Grow you technical capabilities. Take on the best of TP, but not it's culture.

Pros

The corporate culture is respectful and serious, but relaxed enough to be comfortable; the atmosphere is fun; The co workers are people you want to spend time with outside of work

Cons

Benefits are surprisingly poor for a benefits consultng firm; like all consulting firms, your experience will depend on the location and the practice

Advice to Senior Management

Improve your benefits fo ryou employees so you can be an example for your own clients! Start with a reasonable (competitive) vacation/PTO policy!

Pros

Great people, most leaders don't micro manage, lots of career opportunities for intelligent, focused, hard workers and relaxed team-based environment that allows for a lot of flexibility

Cons

Poor and limited communications to employees about negative topics, endless administrative paperwork (though i think this has become industry standard these days), favoratism of certain practices and a demotivating bonus program

Advice to Senior Management

Sometimes it actually makes sense to practice what we preach to other companies. There are too many times that management has not listened to the advice if its expert consultants in their areas of expertise.

Pros

friendly, slow paced, conservative and narrow focused

Cons

dull, not much social life and poor communication

Advice to Senior Management

enahnce communication across teams and practices, delegate responsibilities to junior people more oftenly

Pros

Good quality people throughout the organization. Clear and focused business strategy, with distinct service lines that have remainded fixed over recent years, at a time when competitors have chopped and changed their approaches on a regular basis. Opportunities for global mobility are good, although better in some practices than others. Research base is strong across all business lines.

Cons

Could be more joined up globally, especially within investment consulting. It is a very conservative organization, where management often prioritizes stability of service over innovation. The company is managed on a global matrix strucure, with the matrix divided by geography and business line. The geographical aspects to the matrix are a clear weakness, since it makes managers focus on their distinct geogrpahical areas rather than working to benefit the company as a whole.

Advice to Senior Management

View the company globally and abandon the focus on individual geographies

Pros

Competitive pay; decent work / life balance; recognize leader in industry; we hire nice / smart people; great clients who value Watson Wyatt as partner; good opportunities to learn and grow (but slow to recognize achievements with promotions)

Cons

slow to market with new ideas; bad marketing overall; crappy medical plan; need more effective consultants in marketplace and better coordination between practice areas

Advice to Senior Management

More and better communication; more support in getting associates to next level in career; hire / train new business developers; improve medical benefits; listen to employees and proactively work to address concerns and improve morale; rewards and train good managers

Pros

getting to think every day; having regularly changing projects and problems to resolve, working with super smart people, being a leader in research on issues that are discussed in the media daily. each office is a little different- some very open and collegial; others less so. But, everyone can typically find a home somewhere.

Cons

you are encouraged to take on all that you can do- and more. No one will stop you if you're working 80 hours a week- they just think that you're doing a great job and are decidated.

Advice to Senior Management

streamline the bureaucracy and red tape; this is a consensus driven organization, and sometimes decisions take too long to be made or implemented

Pros

Open-door policy, outstanding client opportunities

Cons

Ever-changing software tools, short turnaround time for projects

Advice to Senior Management

present a simpler and clearer vision of the practice areas we operate in so all levels of associates can be more effective in representing WW to our clients

Pros

WW has a very comfortable culture. It is not at all unusual for junior staff to connect with senior leadership. Leadership places a high priority on both taking care of client needs and innovation. The Associate Development Council is a perfect example of how leadership prioritizes the needs of associates. The recent global rollout of performance management is another example. John Haley has done a very good job of managing the company through difficult times. I anticipate that WW will manage the current economic times better than most organizations. Overall I highly recommend WW

Cons

More feedback from managers would be helpful.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue the work that has been started with the ADC

Pros

If you like to keep busy, this is the place for you. If you like to work with incredibly wonderful and talented people, this is the place for you. Great salary and benefits as well.

Cons

Commute - the drive from most any direction is annoying.

Advice to Senior Management

None.