2008 Great Place to Work^® Institute Awards

"Management believes that it is their job to train and develop others"

Boston Consulting Group

Great Place to Work^® Award for
Professional Development - Culture of Apprenticeship

#11: 2008 FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work for® Professional Services - Consulting, Management Privately Held 1434 Employees Headquarters: Massachusetts President and CEO: Hans-Paul Bürkner www.bcg.com

Boston Consulting Group demonstrates a strong dedication to the professional development of its consulting and administrative staff through myriad opportunities for learning and mentorship.  With its stellar tuition and reimbursement program, associates who commit to returning to the company after receiving an MBA are fully reimbursed for tuition, given a promotion and a raise.  Administrative staff are also supported in their development and may be reimbursed for up to 2 job-related courses per semester.

Truly noteworthy at Boston Consulting Group is the company's commitment to a broad range of internal development opportunities that contribute to creating a Culture of Apprenticeship. Training opportunities abound during an employee's tenure at the company, even for senior partners.  Formal training begins on a new consultant's first day, starting with a two-day orientation and two-week entry-level-skills training program that provides them with a full range of practical skills necessary to succeed, in addition to five full days of communication training in the first year, among other opportunities.

All employees are encouraged to continuously learn, accept responsibility, and take on challenges.  The firm is viewed as an apprenticeship and most training actually takes place within the project team: junior consultants are paired with more senior consultants both at BCG and at client sites, allowing people to learn on the job through experience and observation.  New administrative staff members also spend several days shadowing and learning from current employees.  New hires often sit near experienced staff members who serve as knowledge resources and sounding boards.  It is these practices that have employees saying "Management believes that it is their job to train and develop others."

"Since we are a service company, our people are our assets.  Therefore there is a lot done to develop and train employees.  We have formal training, form online classes to in-person group training both locally and globally.  However more important than the formal training is the culture of Apprenticeship. Management believes that it is their job to train and develop others.  I have worked with a large number of people who are dedicated to helping others learn and develop.  For example, I had to work on my formal presentation skills.  I had 2 senior managers who would practice with me before presentations and then provide feedback after presentations.  Everyone is so busy but they took the time to invest in me which is very true to the BCG Values and what I believe makes us unique."