#39 Monitor Group
Expanding horizons. Those are two words anyone with an iota of aspiration has in their vocabulary. For Gen Yers at Monitor, there are several ways to expand their horizons--starting with the view over Wacker.
"Everybody has their own open space desk," says John Matthews, Partner and Head of Monitor's Chicago office and also Co-Leader of Consumer Packaged Goods. "People don't have permanent offices."
The environment at Monitor is what you could call "open." Employees have access to many different private offices that they can "rent out" for one hour or a full day. There are also creative rooms where employees are encouraged to set up their own creative space by moving around furniture and bringing in whatever helps them in their process--and they can stay till they're done. And yes, there are great views, which employees utilize as a kind of private retreat.
"We offer lots of responsibility and opportunity" says Matthews. "It's a pretty flat organization and people have a very flexible career path--there's not an expectation that you'll move right with your class. It can go faster or longer, it depends." Matthews adds, "Most employees in Chicago don't have senior leaders. Our expectation is that our junior employees here will be full participants in a project. We want to hear from Gen Yer's."
When Generation Y semployees aren't expanding horizons by pulling the shades up on their new view, they've got a new view altogether. Rashaad Balbale says that the biggest perk for him is the travel opportunities--Monitor has offices everywhere from Russia to Italy to Brazil and beyond. "My entire 24th year was spent outside the country in different countries around South Asia and Europe," says Balbale. "It's a really unique opportunity and the perks the travel provides are unique." Balbale notes an expense budget as being a perk, too. "I've been pushed most strongly by the individuals I work with," Balbale says, pointing out that it isn't just travel that taught him new things. "These people have forced me to go out of my comfort zone."
And when "comfort" means working from home, it's no big deal for those at Monitor. Consultant Jessie Gatto says, "I like the whole idea of working when you have work to do. You might have a day off if you don't have any. Also, I wanted to work from home today because I'm at the end of a project right now and need to be heads down." Both Gatto and Balbale say the work-life balance is good, though employees should be prepared to work more some weeks and less others--a small price to pay for the view.
