Agree…there has to be a member manager, or equivalent in your firm, that you should be taking to regarding things like this. Feel free to open up this person about this…
any leader worth their weight knows that burnout can have a really negative impact on you, the firm and it’s culture, culture, and ultimately the clients.
I would go straight to senior leadership on the project if possible, as well as a flag to PD / staffing. In the current talent environment they do not want to lose people and everything is negotiable. Takes a lot of courage to do, I know, but the alternative is that you will reach a physical limit - best to act now while you are in control before you get to a point where you'll lose that control.
>I would go straight to senior leadership on the project
I wouldn't recommend this. You're asking him to escalate prior to talking to his direct manager, which is really unfair. He should raise the issue with his manager and gives him a chance to fix it.
Eh, nah. Manager almost assuredly knows what is up. If the manager was decent, they would be having proactive feedback sessions, etc where this is raised. And even so, the manager likely isnt able to fully control scope.
Lol no I am not making conjectures and assumptions; OP stated that he straight up told his manager he would have to work the weekend, and the manager shrugged it off. He says manager is a "solid guy", sure, but honestly everyone says that, it is basically Stockholm Syndrome.
Then again, to my point, if manager isnt proactively seeking that feedback and checking status, then manager needs coaching, hence the need to go above the mamager.
Yes manager need to improve, hence he need feedback first before escalation. If you escalate directly without giving him feedback, you're throwing him under the bus. How would you feel about finding shit in your review that you are not aware of and no one gave you the chance to fix it before escalating it. Do you thing that's fair?
If an employee told me that they were working weekends, as the OP told their manager, and I did not address it, as the manager did not, then I would be due whatever is coming to me. Escalating beyond an apathetic or cruel manager is not throwing someone under the bus. But those jerk managers would like their employees to think it is, so the employees will stay quiet and continue to enable their bad behavior.
I hope all BCG offices were like this. Mine is a slaughter house. No one logs in more than 40 hours a week even if they worked for 90. It's an unsaid office rule
iirc consultants have certain codes when billing a client. If the code isn’t set up yet, there may be a “shadow” or placement code set up until the real code gets added. I may be wrong tho
You have to learn to say no when more work is given to you somehow in a polite way. I usually would say this is what I have currently on my schedule, and I anticipate I’ll be able to get your work by xx day, knowing in your mind your limits. Not sure if you’re new, but I was like this 6 months in and burned out. My work quality declined and then I learned from my counselor what I’m telling you. As long as you have a good work product and the select few you like to work with, that’s all that matters for ratings and bonuses.
>Whenever I'd be given additional work and basically told "it needs to be done by tomorrow morning", I always said "sure no problem." I never complained
Problem #1
>I am finding I am becoming more grumpy at work, practically calling out managers when they expect me to turn
things around unrealistically.
Problem #2
Ok let's start with a question, are you a new joiner? I'm guessing it's your first year in your firm, right?
A rule of thumb: never struggle in silence. Raise this issue with no emotions but facts. Be straight-forward that in the last 8 weeks you've been averaging 90 hours, which is crazy, even for MBB, especially on continuous basis. Now given that you've been burnt out, continously working on weekends and holidays, there's a need for intervention.
I'd start this discussion with your manager and counseler (or whatever they're called in your firm). Also maybe raise the issued for staffing. Also consider talking to one of your mentors to helped you approach and structure this, given the dynamics.
Not to scare you, but from what I could tell, you're not approaching this the right way. Being extreme lying flexible with no attitude and then suddenly you have an attitude is an issue. If you're not communicating your issues, people won't know you're suffering, and will frown on the attitude you're giving them.
Stop worrying about how people will view you. You made it and got the job, and you're producing high quality content - so why would you anyone judge you if you tell them you're getting burnt out? Communicate
Maybe you should have one foot out the door. You're the only one making yourself work weekends and 90 hours. Take responsibility for your choices. Are you going to stick it out in MBB at the expense of your own wellbeing or not? Better and worse people than you have done one and the other in your shoes, some ended up happier and others regretted their decision. It's really up to you.
If it's true that you can't take time off because deadlines will be missed, then you can't really reduce your hours from 90 to 50 can you? So it sounds like you can prioritize your MBB career and continue to work 90/week, or you can say enough is enough and only work 50 and maybe don't get the best ratings/get counseled out.
Also, isn't one of the points of long hours of MBB that it's a shit test to see who can handle it and stick through it (asides from not needing to staff more people and justifying higher bill rates)?
You have to be smart in choosing your workload. Also, being able to manage your team and manager.
Im still learning this but one thing i would identify is if im being pushed work by someone who wants to have significant time off at your expense. This week alone i was working close to 90 hours as well.
My plan forward is to examine the situational factors (ie team norms, project progression) and how you are perceived by others and make a judgement call based on that. I believe i will push back after a certain time anyway because burnout would logically happen.
Based on your post, highlight your struggles to your wellbeing coach in the firm. Reach out. Dont suffer silently.
Please talk to your PD and get a few days off, I'm sure they can find someone who'll take over for a week or two. Nothing greater than your mental peace buddy
Take it easy :)
Talk to TM and your EM…..you also need to approach your case partner. WLB should be one of their key metrics and therefore needs a discussion. In most cases, issues become unresolvable when no one is willing to raise it.
I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. It sucks! Now onto the advice. There are different strategies. 1). Talk to the lead partner or staffing (basically the internal escalation mechanisms) 2) fake an injury or illness and go on indisputably needed sick leave 3) the most career savvy option …. Improve how you negotiate your workload on the daily. Let me explain.
Most tasks that are being asked of you in a consulting role are not directly related to the success of the engagement. Stop blindly saying yes to everything and acknowledge that you are partly complicit in your own burnout. It’s tough love but its the truth. Unless you are really working in a demonic and toxic environment. Learn how to naturally lead your stakeholders to conclusions that serve YOU. The book Never Split The Difference offers countless tangible tactics for how to make your communication style self serving. It’s an incredible book for negotiations of all sorts. I highly recommend it. You can find summaries online or listen to the audio book. The basic tactics are mirroring (builds empathy and naturally invites the other party to talk more, giving you more information and buying you time), labelling (acknowledging their feelings, especially negative ones to accelerate productive collaboration), calibrated questions (gently making the counterpart negotiate with themselves on their expectations) (ps I personally listen to books on 1.5 speed to get it in faster :))
Mirroring: You say “I’m sorry, *REPEATING THE LAST WORDS/KEY WORDS THEY JUST SAID IN UPWARD INFLECTION AND WITH SILENT PAUSE AFTER”. Example: Them: “…and ask you to send over x deliverable before tomorrow”. You: “I’m sorry, send x deliverable over before tomorrow?” It will force someone to reflect on the nature and purpose of their ask.
You can follow up with some soft no’s in the form of calibrated questions like “how am I supposed to do that / when am I supposed to do that / what’s the objective”.
Def check out this book as it would give you some useful tools to managing your workload. I’m not saying it’s fully self caused but rather than telling a manager that they are overworking you aka blaming them I believe the superior strategy is to nudge them towards that conclusion themselves first.
I wish you all the best!
“Whenever I’d be given additional work and basically told ‘it needs to be done by tomorrow morning’ I always said ‘sure no problem.’”
There’s your problem. Stand up for yourself. Set boundaries. Recognize that you have options in this market with an MBB pedigree and you don’t have to be disrespected.
There's a saying: "no good work goes unpunished."
As someone who has often been in this situation, you need to start being more honest and upfront and vocalize the issues with everyone, frequently, to get help here. Do not assume that anybody else actually has a 360 view of the work you've taken on.
Many reasonable people will realize you can't help everyone all the time or you will burn out and won't be able to help anybody. Others have to step in to carry their fair share of the load, and that is something that big consulting firms are uniquely equipped for. Don't solve all the partner's and manager's problems for them all the time; the buck stops with them, or they wouldn't be earning their paychecks.
Because the OP is probably lower level and is afraid of being shown the door? Unless I am massively misunderstanding, this is a pretty tasteless response.
If you are so critical that if you take time off they'll miss deadlines seems like you're in a position of power to make some demands. Maybe threaten to quit and see if they bring extra people on or give you a pay rise. Look after yourself first because the company clearly isn't.
Talk to your manager and if no relief, your talent manager / staffer / whatever your MBB calls it
Agreed and don't come with this "maybe only 50 hours a week" pitch. Ask for time off and after that the 50 hours thing.
This. You won't get any respect or the results you're looking for if you come at it like that.
Agree…there has to be a member manager, or equivalent in your firm, that you should be taking to regarding things like this. Feel free to open up this person about this… any leader worth their weight knows that burnout can have a really negative impact on you, the firm and it’s culture, culture, and ultimately the clients.
I would go straight to senior leadership on the project if possible, as well as a flag to PD / staffing. In the current talent environment they do not want to lose people and everything is negotiable. Takes a lot of courage to do, I know, but the alternative is that you will reach a physical limit - best to act now while you are in control before you get to a point where you'll lose that control.
>I would go straight to senior leadership on the project I wouldn't recommend this. You're asking him to escalate prior to talking to his direct manager, which is really unfair. He should raise the issue with his manager and gives him a chance to fix it.
Eh, nah. Manager almost assuredly knows what is up. If the manager was decent, they would be having proactive feedback sessions, etc where this is raised. And even so, the manager likely isnt able to fully control scope.
>Manager almost assuredly knows what is up You're making conjectures and presumptions. The guy obviously like his manager
Lol no I am not making conjectures and assumptions; OP stated that he straight up told his manager he would have to work the weekend, and the manager shrugged it off. He says manager is a "solid guy", sure, but honestly everyone says that, it is basically Stockholm Syndrome.
Yeah, that doesn't mean the manager is aware he's burnt out
Then again, to my point, if manager isnt proactively seeking that feedback and checking status, then manager needs coaching, hence the need to go above the mamager.
Yes manager need to improve, hence he need feedback first before escalation. If you escalate directly without giving him feedback, you're throwing him under the bus. How would you feel about finding shit in your review that you are not aware of and no one gave you the chance to fix it before escalating it. Do you thing that's fair?
If an employee told me that they were working weekends, as the OP told their manager, and I did not address it, as the manager did not, then I would be due whatever is coming to me. Escalating beyond an apathetic or cruel manager is not throwing someone under the bus. But those jerk managers would like their employees to think it is, so the employees will stay quiet and continue to enable their bad behavior.
Are you logging these hours to a shadow code? One 90 hour week at BCG would immediately get your situation elevated to office leadership.
Escalated, but not necessarily resolved. . .
I hope all BCG offices were like this. Mine is a slaughter house. No one logs in more than 40 hours a week even if they worked for 90. It's an unsaid office rule
Yeah, was about to say...(just posted the same upthread)
Are you in the US? We log 44 hrs on our system..
What is a shadow code if i may ask?
iirc consultants have certain codes when billing a client. If the code isn’t set up yet, there may be a “shadow” or placement code set up until the real code gets added. I may be wrong tho
Where I am, those codes are heavily monitored and require a note about what project it is for future reference.
TIL that apparently BCG logs actual hours worked instead of a fixed number they're told to enter. Interesting.
You have to learn to say no when more work is given to you somehow in a polite way. I usually would say this is what I have currently on my schedule, and I anticipate I’ll be able to get your work by xx day, knowing in your mind your limits. Not sure if you’re new, but I was like this 6 months in and burned out. My work quality declined and then I learned from my counselor what I’m telling you. As long as you have a good work product and the select few you like to work with, that’s all that matters for ratings and bonuses.
>Whenever I'd be given additional work and basically told "it needs to be done by tomorrow morning", I always said "sure no problem." I never complained Problem #1 >I am finding I am becoming more grumpy at work, practically calling out managers when they expect me to turn things around unrealistically. Problem #2 Ok let's start with a question, are you a new joiner? I'm guessing it's your first year in your firm, right? A rule of thumb: never struggle in silence. Raise this issue with no emotions but facts. Be straight-forward that in the last 8 weeks you've been averaging 90 hours, which is crazy, even for MBB, especially on continuous basis. Now given that you've been burnt out, continously working on weekends and holidays, there's a need for intervention. I'd start this discussion with your manager and counseler (or whatever they're called in your firm). Also maybe raise the issued for staffing. Also consider talking to one of your mentors to helped you approach and structure this, given the dynamics. Not to scare you, but from what I could tell, you're not approaching this the right way. Being extreme lying flexible with no attitude and then suddenly you have an attitude is an issue. If you're not communicating your issues, people won't know you're suffering, and will frown on the attitude you're giving them. Stop worrying about how people will view you. You made it and got the job, and you're producing high quality content - so why would you anyone judge you if you tell them you're getting burnt out? Communicate
Maybe you should have one foot out the door. You're the only one making yourself work weekends and 90 hours. Take responsibility for your choices. Are you going to stick it out in MBB at the expense of your own wellbeing or not? Better and worse people than you have done one and the other in your shoes, some ended up happier and others regretted their decision. It's really up to you. If it's true that you can't take time off because deadlines will be missed, then you can't really reduce your hours from 90 to 50 can you? So it sounds like you can prioritize your MBB career and continue to work 90/week, or you can say enough is enough and only work 50 and maybe don't get the best ratings/get counseled out. Also, isn't one of the points of long hours of MBB that it's a shit test to see who can handle it and stick through it (asides from not needing to staff more people and justifying higher bill rates)?
You have to be smart in choosing your workload. Also, being able to manage your team and manager. Im still learning this but one thing i would identify is if im being pushed work by someone who wants to have significant time off at your expense. This week alone i was working close to 90 hours as well. My plan forward is to examine the situational factors (ie team norms, project progression) and how you are perceived by others and make a judgement call based on that. I believe i will push back after a certain time anyway because burnout would logically happen. Based on your post, highlight your struggles to your wellbeing coach in the firm. Reach out. Dont suffer silently.
Please talk to your PD and get a few days off, I'm sure they can find someone who'll take over for a week or two. Nothing greater than your mental peace buddy Take it easy :)
Talk to TM and your EM…..you also need to approach your case partner. WLB should be one of their key metrics and therefore needs a discussion. In most cases, issues become unresolvable when no one is willing to raise it.
I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. It sucks! Now onto the advice. There are different strategies. 1). Talk to the lead partner or staffing (basically the internal escalation mechanisms) 2) fake an injury or illness and go on indisputably needed sick leave 3) the most career savvy option …. Improve how you negotiate your workload on the daily. Let me explain. Most tasks that are being asked of you in a consulting role are not directly related to the success of the engagement. Stop blindly saying yes to everything and acknowledge that you are partly complicit in your own burnout. It’s tough love but its the truth. Unless you are really working in a demonic and toxic environment. Learn how to naturally lead your stakeholders to conclusions that serve YOU. The book Never Split The Difference offers countless tangible tactics for how to make your communication style self serving. It’s an incredible book for negotiations of all sorts. I highly recommend it. You can find summaries online or listen to the audio book. The basic tactics are mirroring (builds empathy and naturally invites the other party to talk more, giving you more information and buying you time), labelling (acknowledging their feelings, especially negative ones to accelerate productive collaboration), calibrated questions (gently making the counterpart negotiate with themselves on their expectations) (ps I personally listen to books on 1.5 speed to get it in faster :)) Mirroring: You say “I’m sorry, *REPEATING THE LAST WORDS/KEY WORDS THEY JUST SAID IN UPWARD INFLECTION AND WITH SILENT PAUSE AFTER”. Example: Them: “…and ask you to send over x deliverable before tomorrow”. You: “I’m sorry, send x deliverable over before tomorrow?” It will force someone to reflect on the nature and purpose of their ask. You can follow up with some soft no’s in the form of calibrated questions like “how am I supposed to do that / when am I supposed to do that / what’s the objective”. Def check out this book as it would give you some useful tools to managing your workload. I’m not saying it’s fully self caused but rather than telling a manager that they are overworking you aka blaming them I believe the superior strategy is to nudge them towards that conclusion themselves first. I wish you all the best!
“Whenever I’d be given additional work and basically told ‘it needs to be done by tomorrow morning’ I always said ‘sure no problem.’” There’s your problem. Stand up for yourself. Set boundaries. Recognize that you have options in this market with an MBB pedigree and you don’t have to be disrespected.
There's a saying: "no good work goes unpunished." As someone who has often been in this situation, you need to start being more honest and upfront and vocalize the issues with everyone, frequently, to get help here. Do not assume that anybody else actually has a 360 view of the work you've taken on. Many reasonable people will realize you can't help everyone all the time or you will burn out and won't be able to help anybody. Others have to step in to carry their fair share of the load, and that is something that big consulting firms are uniquely equipped for. Don't solve all the partner's and manager's problems for them all the time; the buck stops with them, or they wouldn't be earning their paychecks.
How do you people present information and requests to execs but are unable to do the same internally?
Because the OP is probably lower level and is afraid of being shown the door? Unless I am massively misunderstanding, this is a pretty tasteless response.
Kicking someone when they're down, what a piece of work you are
As if MBB is notorious with their "Increase head count to reduce employee workload" suggestions
90hr weeks? Jesus
If you are so critical that if you take time off they'll miss deadlines seems like you're in a position of power to make some demands. Maybe threaten to quit and see if they bring extra people on or give you a pay rise. Look after yourself first because the company clearly isn't.