Emphasis on great leadership unless unlucky enough to have a poor manager
Pros
In general, a great flat structure. Able to have access to the CIO. Senior staff know your name and seem to genuinely care about you. A leadership standard with which staff are judged. Great training programs trying to build up these soft skills. 95% of managers are excellent and show great leadership skills.
Cons
Because senior staff is so nice and are generally great managers, they are unable to believe that there are one or two bad apples amongst them. This means that they take ages to act and not only this their response is often inappropriate. Experts and specialists are not respected. There is a greater emphasis on the generalist at the expense of expertise. Total comp is terrible. Unfortunately, senior staff can be incredibly patronising to junior staff, taking on the paternalistic approach that they know what is best for that individual (best for Vanguard) as opposed to listening to that individual's own aspirations.
