Shocking erosion of corporate culture over the last five years and continuing to move down the value chain in terms of work conducted for clients. The firms investments in people have seriously declined and they have become miserly regarding benefits, pay, team building activities. Sadly, what was once one of the premiere consulting firms has become a staff augmentation shop. Interesting project opportunities are few and far, often it is embarrassing to admit what work you actually do for clients. More embarrassingly, are senior management's characterizing / spin the work as interesting and impactful. While there are still many smart people at the firm, the departure of dynamic staff (smart, balanced, with good interpersonal skills) continues to accelerate. Additionally, career progression is opaque and does not follow logic. This isn't anything new. Pay scales are distorted and wide (e.g., staff at a lower level earning significantly more than those at a higher level sqashes motivation for advancement). As mentioned, a lot of smart people remain and the firm still attracts some good people (not sure how long this can last as the brand will continue to erode given the current state), but these "smart" people are often overly ambitious people who do not work well with others and think they'll be promoted to partner next week (lol) and will do anything to make that happen (including back stabbing, shameless kiss up to SAs, Principals, Partners). Much of the aforementioned results from the Carlyle investment and becoming a publicly traded company. When we joined BAH, a part of our intro. training focused on how BAH is not a public company and professional services organizations shouldn't be publicly traded companies...well that piece of the training is gone. Now, quarterly earnings and bottom line is all that matters. Becoming public enriched many of the partners, but is destroying the company and brand.
