GLG Employee Reviews about "work life balance"

Pros

GLG has continued to provide support and empathy to its employees since we've moved into a WFH environment. Leadership across the company have really stepped up to over-communicate ongoing updates to our workforce on the progress of many company initiatives -- both COVID and non-COVID related. Despite the difficulties of 2020, GLG has made tremendous strides to improve their Diversity & Inclusion programs. As someone who identifies as Hispanic/Latinx , it's extremely important that my workplace does all that it can to build a diverse workforce while ensuring everyone feels included regardless of their physical appearance. Our CEO (Paul Todd) has exemplified strong leadership during the last several months. His weekly Sunday updates have been a strong stable of consistency in 2020 and I've come to look forward to them each week. GLG has many things to be proud of in 2020 despite the current climate!

Cons

It can sometimes be difficult to find work/life balance given the fast paced and competitive environment at GLG. However, Leadership continues to be supportive and encourages employees to take breaks and time off consistently.

Pros

Unlimited PTO, flexible WFH policy (or was while I was leaving), develop good phone skills which is something that millennials tend to struggle with

Cons

- Micromanagement at its most extreme - Absolutely no work/life balance (was once sent something at 11:45pm and asked to have it 'published' before midnight) - Constant revolving door of employees, everyone that you help train ends up leaving - Non-stop meetings about absolutely nothing - Dealing with rude, arrogant, incredibly needy clients, and team has absolutely no ability to say no to outlandish requests (the clients ask for the impossible to be done in less than an hour) - Was remote for my entire time with GLG - couldn't even take a quick bathroom break without having to ask permission from my team lead

Pros

Although, the company states “unlimited PTO” teams are not very large. Therefore, if someone on your team has requested a week off which aligns with your requested time off there’s a possibility you may not get your days approved. Health benefits are great as well as the 401K matching.

Cons

White-glove service mentality. Must be very quick on your feet to deliver on new starts. This is a heavy metric driven environment when work is slow due to market conditions you may not hit your target goal. Although, leadership says they understand I’m not sure they do as there’s always that pressure and expedition to do the impossible given the state of the economy, market conditions, no new starts and etc. You may be tasked to take on additional side tasks during no new starts. Leveraging side tasks and your own work can potentially lead to burnout. I had voiced this to my Team Lead and was still offered up to take additional side tasks. Leadership will often offer you to take side work without syncing so be ready to be caught off guard. Leadership preaches about the importance of strong work life balance however you will more than likely stay online beyond normal working hours. When clients are unresponsive leadership will push you to do immense outreach. Be ready to call and email very second of the working hour (maybe even after).

Pros

Lots of catered lunch Free coffee Office location is nice and central in downtown Mindless, mundane, and repetitive work every day....if you like not using your brain, GLG is for you

Cons

There are more than 10 things I hate about GLG, but I thought the title was witty and it about sums up my feelings towards this pathetic organization. This company makes themselves seem like the God of all corporations. They place themselves upon a pedestal and present themselves as people who value a healthy work-life balance and a positive work environment; this couldn't be further from the truth. You are indoctrinated from day one of training to be nothing but a little GLG-bot; the training period is 2 weeks long and 85% of it is upper management telling new hires how amazing GLG is and how impactful the organization is. They show you video after video (how much money do you guys spend on those pointless 'promo' videos by the way?) about how edgy and cool GLG is. Yeah, false. Not only are you a step above a telemarketer, but you are nothing more than a cog in one giant GLG machine. You will not be seen as a human being with feelings and a life outside of work, but only as a CRP producer. And Lord help you if you don't produce high amounts of CRP in your first 4 months. They claim it is a 9 month program, but they don't mean it. They move people to the ever elusive 'upstairs' starting at 3 months and negatively pressure those of you who aren't progressing at the ridiculous rate they want to work from home. Oh, but don't clock those hours! They are S-T-I-N-G-Y about their overtime despite offering it to you in your on boarding package. Oh and one more thing--you had best clock your bathroom breaks too because if you dare step away from your desk, management is all over you. Heaven forbid you miss a single phone call. Like I said: you will not be of value to these people. They only care about your metrics and that is it. Speaking of metrics, those people who have high CRP amounts in the first few months? They are free to do whatever they wish. The behavior that high performers get away with is atrocious. One person wears crop tops on a daily basis and once opened weed inside the office. Another openly breaks company policy and does work from home (despite it being against GLG policy, they imply that you need to work from home in order to perform) without clocking the time. High performers can wear stained baseball jerseys and caps to the office, but if you dare have lower CRP than they would like, you best wear a 3-piece suit every day or else they'll ask you to change. GLG is a master bait-and-switch. They show you a vague job description with an inaccurate job title (I was hired on as a Research Associate...) and entice young graduates with decent pay and ''''unlimited paid time off.'''' Heavy emphasis on the quotes, they don't actually mean unlimited. You'll be lucky to get a morning off for a doctor's appointment. In addition, they changed our job title and the job description about 2 months after hiring 100 new people. You are NOT researching, do NOT let them tell you that. They also blatantly lie about their views on a healthy work-life balance; they expect you in the office from 8:30am-6:30pm every single day. Oh but fear not, they offer you gross IPA's and Goldfish every Friday so it's totally worth it....not. Want a day off? Better request it a month in advance and kiss up to your supervisor until they approve it or else it won't be. Lastly, everything that goes wrong WILL be your fault if you are hired in as a junior client solutions associate. We seriously got emails about steps we can take to improve our numbers when people neglect to answer their phones. Yes, you read that right. You are somehow in control of whether or not someone answers their phone. You are also 100% in control of whether or not a client chooses to speak with your recruits (that's how you get CRPs), and you are also in control of whether or not people respond to your emails and InMails. You know what else you're totally and completely 100% in control of? Hurricane Michael. At least GLG would expect you to be. TL:DR: Don't work here.

Pros

Mature and professional environment. The office is very international and has a huge variety in the academic and professional backgrounds of the people working here. You are allowed a lot of responsibility early on with the way you work and the high profile stakeholders you work with. The progression and development opportunities are also impressive. For the most part everyone is very approachable and a lot of people have made friends during their time here.

Cons

It can sometimes unclear on who makes decisions and who you need to approach. Work life balance is generally good but in peak periods you are expected to work late.

Pros

Smart, driven colleagues Very merit based environment - opportunity and resonsibility are there for those who put in the time and effort Collaborative environment - upper management takes the time to get to know event entry level employees and often work with them Great place to get your career off the ground, learn tactical skills and get exposure to many industries

Cons

Work/life balance leans towards finance standards rather than the tech culture that we someones feign to be a part of Turnover tends to be high because associates are young but also because middle management is still inconsistent (some are stellar, others are good individual performers but not great people managers) We don't 'walk the walk' as much as we should when it comes to being the world's best professional learning platform. We offer our clients many types of learning and training experiences but don't do enough internally, although that is changing slowly

Pros

Good people young fun team

Cons

Bad work life balance and robotic

Pros

- Very dynamic, fast-paced, high growth business - Opportunity to work with an impressive client base across financial services, consulting and large corporations - Great opportunities for career development whether as an individual high-performer or as a future people leader, as well as mobility opportunities to different departments and offices globally - Positive work culture with a strong focus on work/life balance and wellness with a good set of company perks/benefits to support those efforts - London office has a very friendly, caring and inclusive culture where you get to interact with people from all different backgrounds from all over the world - Strong focus on social impact with all staff encouraged to get involved - Huge amount of transparency and communication on the performance of the business with opportunity for Q&A from all employees directly with the leadership team and local leaders in virtual townhalls - GLG was one of the first businesses to move its staff to remote working during the COVID crisis and took advice directly from experts to inform its plans. GLGers have been kept regularly informed by the leadership team and through local leaders hosting direct interviews with medical and economic experts with opportunity for Q&A - this is one of the benefits of working for a company that built the marketplace of expertise - Strong investment in L&D and skill-set development at all levels - Massive opportunity to expand your professional network with the large number of executives and clients that you get exposed to each year - Strong reward and recognition culture and platforms to recognise contributions from colleagues/peers - Culture committees that plan socials and community engagement activities - Overall, a great place to work and few places that have the same calibre of talent and opportunity to grow - If you're looking for a company that will give you the opportunity to have a direct impact on helping clients make smarter business and investment decisions, whilst building strong transferable skillsets and an enviable network of contacts that will benefit you throughout your career, then GLG should be at the top of your list!

Cons

- Fast-paced, high growth company so requires innate drive and growth mindset as core attributes

Pros

company is innovative with a good mission behind it. Overall there is a good work/life balance and people don't sleep at the office.

Cons

The company is very top-heavy and it takes an excptionally long time to be considered for promotion, this often kills motivaiton. There is no clear career path

Pros

On the "research" side, GLG employees build skills in account management and corporate communication. There are many smart, kind, talented people at GLG - but everyone quickly realizes that the lucky ones escape as quickly as possible.

Cons

I dreaded waking up in the mornings while I was employed at the Gerson Lehrman Group. When my phone alarm went off, signaling it was time to get ready for another day in hell, my heart sank and I began to panic. I wish I were exaggerating. This company was the root cause of my severe depression, and GLG did not care. The Work: As a fresh college graduate, I walked into my first day of work filled with ambition and optimism. Throughout training, I was led to believe that my job would align with the job I had applied for. Alas, the word 'research' was quite the overstatement as I soon realized that I was an administrative bot. For 12-15 hours a day, I managed relationships with stressed out clients working at investment firms, corporations, etc., and my day-to-day work consisted of organizing phone calls, abiding by obscure compliance policies, and being talked down to by upper-management. There is a reason employees are dropping like flies, and the rate at which this is happening is NOT normal, despite what management will tell you. The work is monotonous with no end in sight. GLG's extreme commitment to running lean means that every employee's performance is measured by their willingness to sacrifice all work life balance. I had no life, just work. I'd work late into the night holding cranky experts and clients accountable to their meetings, with no actual opportunities for learning or growth. All of this is bad in itself, but the story worsens when you add in the poisonous culture and politics that plague GLG. The Culture: GLG does not care about the mental well-being of its employees. When you walk into the office, you can stare into any employee's eyes and immediately share a moment of solidarity over the soulless oppression slowly starting to consume our personal lives, the remnants of the intelligent starry eyed ingénues turned exploited labor, controlled by shame, finding hope in the shared secret that we were all dreaming of escape. I lost my innocence at GLG. The Fake Reviews: Look at the Glassdoor ratings trend for GLG. It's in sharp decline. This is sad, because it's obvious that HR is encouraging employees to post generic, positive reviews to keep the rating above a 1.5.