The work-life balance at McKinsey, BCG and Bain

Let's face it: working in the top 3 strategy consulting firms is not easy. While the schedules can be quite variable depending on the configurations of projects (industry, work in the bedroom or at the client's house, etc.) and offices/regions (in Europe for example, German and Spanish offices are famous for their greater number of hours), they nevertheless remain significant.

In this article, we tell you everything about the reality of work/life balance (Worklife Balance) in strategy consulting. Indeed, it is a very important issue for new generations of candidates and strategy consulting firms have understood this well. We therefore give you some valuable examples of initiatives launched by the top 3 firms to strengthen the work-life balance of their consultants. Finally, we will put things into perspective by comparing the situation of strategic consulting with those of other so-called “elite” professions.

What is the pace of work in MBB?

The 9-9 p.m. window is generally quite representative of the average daily hourly volume in MBB. This volume varies according to the type of mission (Due Diligence, digital transformation, marketing, reorganization in industry etc.) In addition, if you have to be present at the customer's site and their site is located in another city/country, this will mean starting the day very early on Monday. Within the Paris offices, this does not correspond to the majority of projects. Within African offices (in Casablanca for example), you can actually travel to Africa but the staffing will be quite attentive to your wishes and personal/family constraints.

More than the quantity of hours, we must also take into account their loudness. An hour at a startup or in another “normal” job is clearly not an hour at McKinsey, BCG, or Bain. A lunch break will also not happen the same way. You will always have a lot more things to do than time allows you to do (and therefore you will develop a great capacity for prioritization). In addition, you will evolve in an environment where there is a certain amount of pressure, with customer requests that can quickly change (which will strengthen your ability to adapt).

Finally, you will also be encouraged - and sometimes evaluated - on your ability to contribute to the “non-project” life of the firm (organization of events, writing mission proposals (the famous “...Propales“, articles for marketing, research, recruitment etc.). We tell you again, you will always have something to do.

However, the pace of work within MBBs is far from being unsustainable. A majority of consultants continue to be able to do sports regularly and weekend work remains a fairly rare exception, which firms avoid as much as possible. This intense rhythm is also not constant since you can take time for yourself when you are not staffed (“at the beach”). You will also be able to benefit from a number of initiatives launched by the best firms to improve your job satisfaction. La Worklife Balance was also part of our top 6 arguments to use when answering the question “Why advice?” in maintenance.

Examples of initiatives to ensure Worklife Balance

Most of the top 6 strategy consulting firms offer the possibility of taking out LOAs (Leaves of Absence), authorized absences that can last several weeks in order to extend vacations, recharge their batteries or accomplish personal projects. In addition, the firm will invest enormously in your training. You will almost always have at least one week of training per year. These moments often take place in a lighter atmosphere and offer you the opportunity to establish new relationships within the firm.

With regard to the safeguards put in place by firms to better manage the workload of project teams and respect everyone's constraints, the example we wanted to highlight is the program PTO (Predictability, Teaming & Open Communication). Launched in 2005 by BCG in Boston in partnership with the Harvard Business School, this program was extended to all offices in 2015. 2 project managers (who change according to the Staffing) are mobilized on this program on an ongoing basis. It consists in integrating into each project personal time periods, visible to the team and customers, which makes it possible to respect everyone's right to disconnect while ensuring the proper functioning of the project. Since its launch, the firm has observed a marked increase in well-being indicators within the firm. While it does not offer an absolute guarantee that your workload will not explode on a given project, it does however offer the possibility of factalising the “excesses” you may have suffered and which will be taken into account during your next assignment (Staffing) of mission. PTO maybe one of the excellent reasons to join BCG for your next career step.

Conclusion: not a vacation but much better than other “elite” professions

Few elite professions offer as many benefits as strategy consulting while still allowing you to maintain some control over your free time. As a doctor, lawyer or M&A banker, you may find yourself mobilized 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, working on different clients at the same time. The mental load that strategy consulting imposes is lower (up to the project manager level). So it remains a very attractive career choice in our opinion.

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