BEST
FIRMS
THE2015
It must’ve been a pretty good year at Chicago-based West Monroe Partners. The firm’s been on a roll in the past few years, steadily climbing up our Best Firms to Work For rankings, moving from
15th to 10th to 7th the last three years. But in 2015, the employee-owned firm takes a giant leap into the rarified air of the Top 3.
Not surprisingly, President Kevin
McCarty says West Monroe’s morale
is very strong—engaged, optimistic,
and highly collegial and credits a
lot of that to the firm’s 100-percent
ownership model, which promotes
a high level of engagement and ac-
countability. “When you have a true
culture of empowerment, it trans-
lates to high engagement,” he says.
“Everyone here feels it’s his or her
job to nurture and preserve our cul-
ture—and that manifests itself in
everything from our workplace to
the quality of the work we deliver.”
McCarty says one of the most
unique things about the firm is its
blend of business and technology ex-
pertise—and, in particular, the way
in which West Monroe combines
those disciplines to transform op-
erations and achieve strategic goals.
“One of the fundamental elements
of our employee value proposition is
opportunity, and the best way to deliver opportunity is through strong
and sustained growth,” he says.
To that end, McCarty says the
firm’s top priority is continuing to
pursue its multi-year strategic growth
agenda: building scale on both
coasts by maintaining productive
and healthy organic growth, while
at the same time selectively pursu-
ing acquisitions that make sense for
the business. That strategy is work-
ing. “We’ve grown by more than a
third in 2014, and our growth rate is
above 20 percent so far in 2015,” he
says. “Key areas of opportunity for
the next year or two include the siz-
zling merger and acquisition market,
which is generating a significant per-
centage of our work today, as well as
the rapidly evolving healthcare and
energy and utilities sectors.”
On the survey, the firm excelled in
the areas of Work/Life Balance and
Compensation & Benefits, where
the firm ranked second only behind
BCG. “This is the first time we’ve
ever scored highly in the area of com-
pensation in one of these surveys—
and we’re very pleased about that. It
reflects years of strategically building
a very compelling total reward pack-
age,” he says.
As far as the recognition, he says
it’s always an honor and “validates
the culture and 100-percent employee ownership model that we have
worked so hard to nurture. And it
enables us to continue attracting the
best of the best talent.”
HEADQUARTERS: Chicago
BILLABLE CONSULTANTS: 500
CLIENT INDUSTRIES SERVED: Banking, Capital Markets, Energy & Utilities,
Healthcare, Insurance, Life Sciences, Manufacturing & Distribution, Retail
CONSULTING SERVICE LINES: Operations Management, IT, Strategy
WERE THERE ANY
SPECIFIC PROGRAMS OR
INITIATIVES THAT YOU’D
SAY CONTRIBUTED TO YOU
BEING A BEST FIRM?
Kevin McCarty, President of West
Monroe, says: “The ‘Best Firm’
recognition is the result of many
things coming together well, but
three ‘programs’ had a particular
impact on our workplace and morale this year. Our Career Equity
model is engaging our people in
meaningful dialogue with career
advisers and boards of advisers
about how they can achieve both
personal and professional goals
while working at West Monroe
Partners. Our employee stock
ownership plan is now in its third
year, and the rewards of this model
are now becoming quite tangible
for our people. And, over the past
year, we also stepped up our focus
on emphasizing the value—or total
reward—of working at West Monroe Partners.”
WEST MONROE PARTNERS