The 2014 Best Firms to Work For

One of the best aspects of our Best Firms to Work For survey is the comprehensive snapshot it provides of the profession. This year, that's a pretty interesting snapshot as overall scores dipped a bit from record highs in 2013.

Overall, scores were more in line with 2012. Four of the categories—Culture, Compensation & Benefits, Client Engagement and Work/Life Balance remained largely unchanged. However, scores dipped more in Firm Leadership and Career Development. Check out the chart at the bottom of page 8 for the full story and to make year-over-year comparisons from 2011 to 2014.

From an individual firm perspective, a new No. 1 firm this year shakes up the rankings as BCG wears the crown as the Best Firm to Work For. EY, McGladrey, L.E.K. Consulting and Protiviti are 2014′s newcomers. Meanwhile, Stroud Consulting remains the Best Small Firm to Work For. That's five years running and six out of the last seven years for Stroud.

Client Engagement
This category refl ects the quality of work consultants perceive their firm is doing. It is not a measure of the actual work being done, but the more valuable a firm's consultants perceive their work to be, the more engaged they tend to be in their clients'—and firm's—success.