- Projects are understaffed because Partners can only win projects on a cost-basis. You will work excessively long hours. You can't discuss the hours because leaders see that as a personal inefficiency and not a structural problem. Everybody knows they know the truth.
- Feedback, depending on who is providing is, is little more than downward bullying. Morale is exceptionally low, especially among junior staff, who operate in a constant state of fear because ordinary or less-than-perfection 24/7 is fireable.
- Absoutely zero job security within the first year, employees are viewed as entirely expendable assets.
- Individuality is not valued or welcomed. Don't try to introduce new ideas, innovation is neither encouraged nor appreciated. They have their cookie-cutter mould!
- Senior leadership use fear to extract results under the guise of "performance management".
- Positive reviews of the firm should be taken with skepticism because employees are *strongly* encouraged to write a positive review after promotion.
- Those who leave often leave with an NDA in place, which prevents them from speaking out.
- Partners' inability to secure projects predictably adds to the dysfunction. Projects are won on price rather than quality. Base pay and progression are noticeably lower than at peer firms (T2, MBB). This is important because senior leadership often compare this to the "M" of operations consulting.
- Bonuses are tied to whether you are staffed on an eligible project. You might be staffed on a project as "reinforcement" so you won't earn your on-site bonus but will have to work insane hours.
- You are told this is an incentive to work harder on projects to get repeat business, but the incentive is clearly misplaced. Leadership continue to profit while employees shoulder the consequences of their shortcomings.
