The 2007 Best Firms to Work For: Bain & Company (No. 1)

"Obviously, I'm thrilled to be held in such high regard by our own people, so that's really the great reward here," says Russ Hagey, chief talent officer at Bain. "I think our people know they are making great things happen with their clients, and they are doing it in an environment that values them as individuals. They're also doing it with people who they are energized and thrilled to be with—I think that's the power of Bain & Company."
And that speaks directly to the culture at Bain, something the firm has been focused on a lot lately. "We spend a great deal of time focused on the culture, the culture of teams and teamwork at Bain," Hagey says. "Teaming is central to the way to work at Bain. We truly do have a culture of teamwork, a culture of collaboration and a culture of people who love to work with one another."

And the numbers don't lie. When asked to respond to the statement: "A team-oriented culture is important here," Bain scored a 4.98 out of possible 5. Certainly sounds like the "Bainees" get it. "Everything we do is in and around teams," Hagey says. "That gives people a sense of ownership, a sense of belonging, a sense of commitment—not only to the client who they work for but also to a small cadre of people they are matched up with. We create a set of teams at all levels within the firm. The power of teamwork and the power of teams helps lead us to exceptional client service."

Another powerful element to Bain's success is its obsessive commitment to the learning and development of its employees. One such program, Hagey
says, is Bain's "apprenticeship model." When people start with Bain, they get assigned a colleague, a mentor and adviser whom they meet with quarterly, he says. "Part of the responsibility we place on our partners and managers is the training and development of our consultants and associate consultants," Hagey says. "In this model, they learn in the case-team setting—that's where most of the learning goes on. This also helps people feel a part of something bigger than themselves in an environment of learning and training, which is a very powerful thing."

That feedback and dialogue between senior partners and consultants works on many levels at Bain. Case-teams, for instance, consist of partners, managers and consultants as a think-tank to provide constant feedback. Quarterly case-team surveys allow the firm to evaluate its performance with clients.

Another formalized communication tool at Bain is what the firm calls "upward feedback," where consultants are coached by more senior consultants or partners two or three times a year. While the data around that feedback is important, Hagey says, the real value from the case-team surveys and upward feedback is the dialogue it helps create within teams.

"It helps us talk about culture. How are people feeling? Are you making an impact with your client? Are you learning?" Hagey asks. "We ask our case-teams to talk about this once a quarter, and it's such a powerful part of our culture and our job." It allows consultants to talk freely about what's working and what's not and, as a result opens avenues for them to talk about what's working at Bain.

"The power of the dialogue helps us create a dynamic where our people feel that they can talk about what's good about Bain, and they can highlight some of the things that maybe we need to work on," Hagey says. "Then we have a way to respond [to them] and fix those things if we need to. This openness and willingness to talk with our consultants about any issues we may have is a big part of our culture at Bain."

To reinforce this environment, once a year Bain issues a worldwide, anonymous employee survey of all employees in all 37 offices worldwide. In addition, Bain conducts a complete formal review process of all employees twice a year. "At Bain, we're serious about feedback," Hagey says. "I think the employees like the idea that we're open, and we're asking for feedback from them all the time."

All of this leads to voluntary turnover rates well below industry averages. Clearly, consultants at our Best Firm to Work For see no reason to go anywhere else. In our survey, only 1 percent of Bain consultants said they didn't plan to be with the firm in two years. The overall survey average was 10 percent.