11. It’s the number of players on the field for a soccer (or cricket) team, the number of Academy Awards won by the epic Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and the number of points on the maple leaf on the Canadian flag…I counted, it’s true.
But as of recently, 11 has a new meaning: Bain has now won the best consulting firm to work for 11 straight times. That means that if you were born in 2002, you have never experienced a world where Bain is not the best consulting firm to work for. You could do worse.
Surveys like this one from Consulting Magazine are based primarily on employee feedback, which begs the question, why for 11 straight years, through the housing bubble, the Great Recession, and whatever it is that Miley Cyrus did at the VMAs a few weeks ago, has Bain been loved the most by its employees? While I can’t answer for my thousands of colleagues, I can tell you the top 3 reasons why I have ranked Bain so highly year-in, year-out.
- The Opportunities: I’ve written previously that even when you start, there’s no kid gloves at Bain. When you’re here, you’re working with some of the biggest companies, on some of the most difficult business problems around. Within my first year, I presented to a unionized work force, as well as to a Fortune 500 CEO and his team. I constructed a performance improvement scorecard, and I predicted monthly sales for a specific recreational product (I actually almost nailed the holiday sales, I might have to frame that slide). I advised a major CPG client on the likely strategic ramifications of a potential acquisition, and also had to interview multiple tele-psychics (for the curious, they were unable to predict the questions I was going to ask). I confess that I don’t know whether I’ll be at Bain for the next 20 years or the next 2, but I can’t imagine another career that would have allowed me so many diverse opportunities so quickly.
- The Responsiveness: Staffing is a question I get a lot when I’m talking to candidates; folks are always interested in how much input people have on the staffing process. The truth is that staffing is a constant juggling act between our current pipeline, case-specific requirements, individual preferences, and development needs. That said, I have been amazed by how responsive staffing has been every time I’ve wanted to chat. After my first six or so months at Bain my manager suggested I pursue a rotation on our Private Equity Group (commonly known as PEG). I requested a meeting with our staffing manager, and three short weeks later I was already ramping up on my first diligence. Similarly, after a number of months on PEG, I thought it was important to pursue a role allowing me responsibility for additional team members (on PEG, Consultants and ACs alike are typically individual contributors rather than one managing the other). I presented this ask to staffing and again, within a few weeks, was in that role on a new client. I cannot promise this to everyone but in my experience, when I have highlighted a development need to staffing, they have responded faster than I ever expected.
- The People: You’ll hear it from any Bainie you talk to, and actually many of our clients, the best think about Bain is the people. I once watched a behind-the-scenes look at how Laker Girls are selected (it was a slow news day). As they were interviewing the selection committee one woman commented on what they look for saying: “We don’t just take the prettiest girl, and we don’t just take the best dancer. We’re looking for the whole package.” At the risk of being the first person to compare a multi-national corporate advisory firm to cheerleaders for NBA team, I think this sentiment is similar to how Bain recruits candidates: we don’t just look for the smartest, we don’t just look for best communicator, you really have to be the total package. In my experience, my colleagues aren’t just intelligent, they are compassionate, they are empathetic, and they are kind. They are the people I want by my side when presenting to an executive and also when I’m cheering on the Lakers (how bout that, brought it full circle).
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