The 2022 Best Firms to Work For: West Monroe Partners

Client Industries Served: Consumer & Industrial Products, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Health Care & Life Sciences, High Tech & Software, Private Equity

Consulting Service Lines: Business Advisory & Transformation, Business Services, Digital & Technology, Mergers & Acquisitions, People

CMAG: How would you say you've managed to stay among the industry's Best Firms to Work For amid these unprecedented times?

If there's one lesson that I've learned in starting, growing, and leading West Monroe for over 20 years, it is this: Build what matters.

We are not afraid to reorient and reinvent ourselves around what the market needs next. The ability to see past today is key to growth and durability as a company. That is how we have quickly established West Monroe as a digital services leader.

It also applies to our workplace. We believe it is important to have a clear employee value proposition that defines who we are and are not as a company and an employer, and what people can expect when they choose to join or stay at West Monroe. Through extensive research, both internally and externally, we have identified three defining characteristics that matter to our people: the opportunity to grow and build expertise; a caring, collaborative, and inclusive culture; and work that has impact.

We are also very serious about listening to our people and measuring various aspects of employee fulfillment through biannual pulse surveys. We are transparent with the results—we share and discuss scores in our quarterly town halls and other meetings. But we are even more serious about taking action to preserve our unique culture. Our nearly 50 "pulse managers" work with their practice and office leaders to analyze feedback and develop responses.

We also know the concept of employee ownership matters. When you share the upside and downside of a company's efforts with your people, you show them you're a true partner and that you're in this journey together. West Monroe has embraced various forms of employee ownership over the years. In 2021, we decided take on an outside investment partner for the first time so that we can invest in capabilities we need to fuel growth. In doing so, we took great care to define a new model that continues employee ownership.

CMAG: Were there any specific programs or initiatives (internal or external) that contributed to you being a Best Firm to Work For?

There are many aspects of our operations that collectively contribute to a unique workplace. Here are two that were particular areas of focus in the past year:

In 2021, we made a notable shift in our approach to inclusion and diversity (I&D), committing to action through personal accountability, inclusive leadership, and cultural competence. This isn't easy work—but it is essential to change. For example, we took 40 members of our executive leadership through the six-month Korn Ferry The Inclusive™ Leader program. This was a significant time commitment, but also an eye-opening experience—including for me personally. As consultants, we have a propensity to "do something" to solve issues. But through this program, I learned how simply listening and absorbing is doing something.

We recently released our first I&D report—publishing for the first time our goals for how we want West Monroe to look in 2025 and outlining what we are doing to achieve them. Reporting openly on our progress is one way that we can hold ourselves accountable.

On the topic of transparency, we continue to believe that full and open communication with our people is fundamental to our mission of developing our next generation of leaders. If we want future leaders to possess the level of knowledge they need when they get into leadership, they must have as much insight as possible around decision-making, strategy, and how the business runs.

There is no better example of this commitment than our all-company meeting, which occurs every five years. This is more challenging and costly the larger we get. It would be easy to begin limiting attendance—but we believe that everyone should have this opportunity to be immersed in our culture. That was particularly true this year, in wake of a long period of virtual working. So, in May 2022, more than 2,000 of us—most in person and a few virtually—celebrated West Monroe's 20th anniversary together in San Antonio, Texas. The agenda centered around making sure our people have a clear direction on our strategy. But also wanted them to come away feeling energized, excited, and connected by injecting a good dose of fun and collaboration into the agenda.

CMAG: What's unique about your firm? What sets it apart?

First and foremost is the category that we are carving for ourselves as a digital services firm. We support clients on all phases of the journey to be digital, in all parts of their business. That is creating tremendous opportunities and experiences for our people.

To make sure we build what matters, we are very specific about what we will do and won't do for our clients. For example, we don't do compliance, check-the-box projects or staff augmentation work that makes people feel like a cog in the wheel. Rather, we work on projects that move the needle for our clients, because that creates more value and is fulfilling for our people. Our work is also very motivating for our people because the value they deliver is not just financial—it often has a bigger sense of purpose by addressing needs such as water conservation, expansion of electric vehicles, better health outcomes, and more.

Another unique quality is our one-for-all and all-for-one orientation. From the beginning, we have been very intentional about the absence of a class system. This is not a place where management consultants work on strategy and pass things over the fence to technologists and product engineers. It's a place where everyone has an equal seat at the table and equal input into the product—breakthrough ideas come from every part of the organization. We are proud to have built a place where all disciplines are included and respected, and it has created camaraderie and culture that is hard to replicate.

CMAG: What's the top priority over the next 6 to 12 months?

In response to unprecedented client demand, we have moved quickly to create a global product development platform that enables us to conceive, build, and manage digital products for our clients. To create scale, efficiency, and depth in product engineering, we added significant new talent in product management, digital design, and software engineering through two late-2021 acquisitions of Verys and Carbon Five—our largest acquisitions to date. We are combining these organizations with our existing product and technology teams to create one cohesive team of more than 500 people with a common and compelling approach to the market. A tremendous amount of effort and thought has already gone into this, and bringing it all to fruition is a top priority for the coming months.

Another priority is harnessing our elevated approaches to inclusion and diversity and corporate social responsibility to move us toward an environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy. We know that this is important to both employees and clients, and we are committed to the investment, effort, and annual reporting required. We are working with outside experts to develop our strategy and metrics.

CMAG: When you look at the remainder of this year and 2023, what excites you? What opportunities do you see in your future?

I'm excited about what we've accomplished in the past year to pave the way for our next phase of growth.

Having outside investment accelerated our ability to acquire the product engineering capabilities we need to support clients throughout the journey to be digital. With continuing economic, geopolitical, and labor market uncertainty, a digital-first mindset is all the more important. That mindset is what will separate the leaders from the rest of the pack. We are uniquely positioned to help companies not only foster a digital mindset but also realize value from it.

Investment also enabled us to begin our planned international expansion. We recently opened our London office, the first step in a multi-year expansion in Western Europe. Initially, we are meeting requests from our private equity clients for local service—but this is just the beginning. Over the next three years, we plan to hire 1,000 people in Europe, establish offices in additional European cities, and expand our services there beyond private equity.

These developments will provide exciting new experiences for our people, as well as significant new career growth and leadership opportunities.

CMAG: What impact do you think being a Best Firm to Work For has on the firm? Employees? Clients?

It is always a motivational boost to receive recognition. As one of our co-founders, I'm inspired by the number of people who have believed in and bought into what we imagined one night, 20 years ago. I never, ever take this type of recognition for granted, and neither do our people. Internally, it is a point of pride for something we have all built together.

CMAG: Thank you, and congratulations.