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My reviewer talks to everyone who has ever worked with me in the 6 month period. Then she synthesizes it into a 3-4 page memo about what I’m like to work with and how it compares to our leadership development model (essentially a rubric by role). I talk to her before and after she does this (to prep her & then to get the outcome).
Compensation is totally standardized & everyone in the same rating category gets the exact same bonus / bump.
Is it subjective? Yes. Is it reasonable & fair? Yes!
Mine has varied from 8 to 25. Lots of 10 min calls.
- Mutual development agreement between you and direct supervisor at the outset of every project. Covers development goals and specific, jointly accountable actions, for achieving
- Biweekly informal 30-45 minutes feedback/coaching sessions throughout project.l with direct manager. Every 6-8 weeks with MD. Expectations change every week (rising bar)
- Detailed review (4 pages?) after every project or every 3-4 months on longer projects. Written by direct manager with input/sign off from MDs. Covers core consulting skills, development trajectory, etc in quant and qual forms. Reviews debriefed in person by manager several weeks after conclusion of projects.
- Career Development Committee (CDC) 2x/year. Career development advisor (CDA) collects reviews, talks to everyone you’ve worked with, has prep session with you to review Personal Information Form (self assessment basically). Writes briefing and presents to CDC. Matrix placement and promo timing decisions made here.
- Post-CDC: CDA creates detailed development plan, meeting to review CDC outcome and that plan. Promo timing discussion is very clear with 4 options (paraphrasing - on track, on track with significant development, promo unlikely without miracle, no path forward/immediate counsel out)
- For PL and above, there is an upward process that is very similar. Upwards are required for every report, every project.
- Bonus: Matrix placement explains 90% of bonus variation. In 3/4 years, I’ve been able to calc my bonus to the penny 3 months in advance. I’m just a “target performer” not a rockstar and my bonuses have gone from 20-50k over 4 years.
No utilization talk (unless as a symptom of other struggles). Scores matter less than commentary/discussion because inflation is rampant. Scores are calibrated to role (eg Associate, Consultant) go hard to get 1s as a recent prompt. Matrix placement and therefore bonus is calibrated to career step (eg C1 vs C2). Rock start C1 gets way more money than target C2.
It is pretty transparent. It is pretty fair. It is utterly exhausting. If your projects average 8 weeks, then in 1 year you’d have: 20 bi weeklies with manager, 4-6 informals with MD, 6 downward reviews, minimum 4 touch points with CDA, 2 of those with CDC debriefs, 10-12 upward reviews in manager.
That was fascinating. Thank you. It does sound exhausting, but that is an incredible amount of actual development investment I've never seen, or will ever see, at either Deloitte or Accenture.
A large share of the Big 4 work implementation and staff aug work. You need bodies more than rockstars for the majority of that work. So we keep mediocrity around because you need it to deliver. MBB has more strategy work with some implementation advisory. You need fewer people, but they need to be good. Their up or out model supports that.
All valid points. And it seems to be a Big4/6 thing to 'belittle' someone to 'put them in their place', i.e. quash salary/promotion expectations because if everyone were to get a stellar raise, we'd go bankrupt. Ultimately a numbers game.
If you’re at a firm with a clear up or out culture, then there is bound to be disagreements in performance reviews. However, I don’t ever seem to see any of your employees complaining (whether justified or not) on this app.
Having regular feedback discussions (every 2-3 weeks) helps us know what areas we need to work on, and what areas we are doing well on. This way, the performance reviews are not a big surprise and hence fewer complaints in a public forum. There are obviously disagreements for cases that are on the cusp, but if you are a low performer you generally know that you are going to get a low rating before the official reviews because of the regular feedback.
It’s not mandatory for us either, but more ingrained in the culture.
It’s a cultural thing. Everything I read from the MBB folks above confirm that the general guidelines are similar to the B4. The difference is the culture of providing candid feedback. B4 guidelines encourage frequent feedback too. But most managers avoid delivering candid feedback good and bad. They just share that feedback to the individual’s coach.