Acquire and sharpen your skills to GET OUT as quickly as you can! - Associate Consultant Manhattan Strategy Group Employee Review

Yes, the current job market is a mess, however, staying anywhere, especially in an organization like this, in this climate is more detrimental to your personal well being than anything else. Don’t sacrifice your mental and even physical well being for the sake of a company that does not and will not value you. That is truly the definition of this toxic workplace. I’ll say it again, get out! As someone who is continuously improving myself with personal and professional development, higher education, and acquiring skills, this company will attempt to drain you of those accomplishments for their benefit and leave you burnt out with nothing in return to elevate you. There were those in upper leadership roles on projects I worked on whose basic computer and Microsoft skills were lacking which in turn fell on others such as myself to train and support in order to get tasks and deliverables over the finish line. Team work is expected, however, constant issues with competencies leaves one to question how individuals attained and are able to maintain these positions. The company only offers professional development “reimbursement” after you have been with them for a year. I am not sure how the majority of companies currently structure their professional development offerings to their employees, however, this is not an effective policy to maintain talent and motivate eager and high achieving individuals to desire to stay with this company. After almost two years of exceeding expectations and benefiting the company I left for better. The promotions and recognition that have occurred here largely overlook those who are the back bone of the project work. Early hours, late hours, long nights, weekend meetings and tasks, planning, developing processes and procedures for projects where there were either a lack of or none, are all received with the benefit of leadership in mind. Then, empty promises are made from leadership to work harder, involve oneself in business development opportunities and look on the bright side of things as the CEO often and repeatedly states. Toxic positivity begins to set in with this recurring language as (1) yes, it is important to maintain a positive outlook on the work being done, however, (2) that does not negate the fact that your employees are sacrificing their lives and livelihood to benefit your company. Overall, company morale is nonexistent coupled with low employee appreciation and benefits that are not competitive with other organizations. The reality is that the cost of everything within our society is UP and will continue to go UP. Measures must be in place to accommodate fairly and efficiently the lives of employees, period. No one is going to remain committed to an organization that underpays and undervalues. Therefore, you must stay laser focused if you choose to remain working here, create a plan for yourself, and swiftly leave for better. Better leadership, better management, better compensation, JUST better overall is attainable outside of this company. What I have remaining to share echoes what a handful of individuals have already stated within their reviews here for this company. I agree specifically with what one user stated (November 9, 2021): “MSG can be a great short-term experience for high-achieving recent grads or career switchers that need a chance to prove themselves. It can be a valuable stepping stone - but do NOT get yourself in the trap of thinking it is anything more than that. MSG will continue to throw more and more responsibility at you so long as you are capable of handling it… which can be a great opportunity to develop your skills and flesh out your resume. they will absolutely suck you dry, and you should do the exact same to them. Squeeze every single learning opportunity out of them that you can, then leave for bigger and better opportunities for career growth. You will have great opportunities to develop here and take on responsibilities far above your “pay grad” - use it, learn from it, and then move on to a place that will actually value your skills.” This above statement truly sums up my experience working for this company. I’ll continue by saying this organization is true to its business description on being a “boutique consulting firm”. Manhattan Strategy Group is a top heavy place with many leadership positions and the bulk of the behind the scenes, laborious work, trickling down to those with the lower organization flow titles (i.e. Senior Analysts, Project Coordinators, and Associate Consultants). However, there aren’t enough of these individuals (obvious high turnover due to poor treatment of these employees) to even maintain a project, let alone have leadership in place to manage a project. This top-heavy dynamic has left an unbalance in project teams. Micromanagement is a huge problem at Manhattan Strategy Group. I will not have my work repeatedly reviewed when I have proven my intellectual capabilities from my work experience and education to protect leadership’s inability to trust their team and equip their team to take on leadership. It is sad to witness the chaos that has unfolded over the period of time at this organization and continual downward spiraling of leadership at properly addressing workplace issues including its culture, abusive leadership, employee appreciation, living wages for the relentless and overly-qualified workers. However, it truly is joyous to no longer be associated with an organization that embodies this and to embrace work at an organization that displays its appreciation for the value it recognizes within its employees and highly compensates them in return.