Culture @ BCG

Interning at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) allowed me to discover the values I found important in an organization's culture.

People

On my first day working at BCG, the first thing I noticed about the firm were all the friendly faces around me. People were kind to me from the beginning, and made me feel welcome by going out of there way to introduce themselves to the new intern. Their efforts made me feel comfortable right off the bat and it also made me realize that the workplace could be somewhere I could foster positive relationships.

Friendliness aside, my coworkers were extremely helpful throughout the six months I spent working at the firm. Many times I found myself walking over to their desks with a question in mind. Even if they weren't specifically working on my project, I knew that I could come to them with concerns. BCG made me realize the importance of people. They made me understand that people make up the culture and so I hope to find positive and helpful people in the organizations I become a part of in the future.

As time passed, I also came to notice that most people I encountered held a can-do-attitude. I remember working cross-functionally on a few projects and having to video meets with people across the globe. These types of projects required coordination from all parties and I specifically remember that everyone was accommodating to each other's schedules and any conflicts that may have arisen were quickly resolved. I think this was a result of the attitudes everyone held. If something couldn't get done as planned there was no resentment or anxiety (at least that I noticed), instead the response to problems always came with a solution in mind. It was such a breath of fresh air to be surrounded by people who were ready to put their best foot forward no matter what the problem.

Diversity

We hear about the importance of diversity, but sometimes we don't understand exactly why or at least that was my experience. I had always been taught that having an open mind and accepting others different from myself were good values to have, but I had never really questioned why that was the case.

Well, throughout my time at the firm I came to understand the importance of diversity a little bit better. While I worked there I encountered so many different personalities because BCG is a global firm. I was working with people in Australia, France, and Italy. I had the opportunity to learn from people who were halfway across the world and I think I came to understand that having new perspectives usually leads to innovative solutions.

Differences in people revealed valuable insights on projects that I had been working on. If I had a problem I couldn't seem to resolve on my own, and proceeded to discuss this problem with my network abroad, the chances were that at the end of the day I'd have more than just one possible solution at my disposal.

BCG helped deepen my understanding of diversity and now I've added it to my list of values to look for in the future.

Investing in Happiness

One of the most memorable things about working at BCG's office was the firm's dedication to its employees happiness. While working for BCG, I had the opportunity to attend office events, participate in volunteer work, receive employee benefits, and feel like the office was a second home.

Every month the office would hold a birthday celebration for the birthdays in that month which meant cake, catering and fun decorations. This along with the weekly massages for all employees and a number of other perks definitely let me know that BCG cared about my well-being and happiness. I think offering these benefits to the interns also made it even more evident that we weren't treated as "just the interns" but as full fledged employees.

These small gestures helped me understand that the type of culture I want to belong to in the future is one where I feel my well-being is accounted for.