senior consultant

intern

consultant

senior auditor

tax accountant

Plante Moran

At a notable consulting firm, there's a profound contradiction between the corporate culture that's marketed to employees and the reality of their day-to-day experiences. The company, which publicly commits to principles of integrity and a "we care" ethos, unfortunately, falls short in embodying these values in its management practices.

Despite the firm's talented and dedicated workforce, there is a noticeable gap in how employee concerns and issues are handled by senior management. Instances of unresolved disputes and the lack of transparent communication have led to a growing sense of disillusionment among the staff. This not only undermines the trust in leadership but also contradicts the firm's advertised commitment to employee welfare and ethical conduct.

The disconnect between proclaimed values and actual practices raises significant questions about the integrity of the firm's leadership. For a company that prides itself on caring and principled operation, the current state of affairs is a call to action. It's crucial for the leadership to realign its actions with its stated values to restore trust and uphold the genuine welfare of its employees.

In summary, while the firm employs commendable individuals, the approach taken by its senior management towards employee concerns and the overall culture of integrity requires urgent reevaluation and genuine commitment to change.

Plante Moran has been on Fortunes top 100 employers for 18 straight years (every year it entered) and it is easy to see why.  The company has a multitude of programs to help their employees progress through a well laid out career path.  They take great care to make sure their employees are happy and feel supported.  Consulting typically requires many hours, but Plante Moran strives to help employees achieve a reasonable work/life balance (it is worth noting that the higher you go, the more hours you are expected to contribute).  

Plante Moran has great client satisfaction numbers.  They have developed excellent procedures for ensuring quality.  

Plante Moran is a very collaborative environment.  

This is a great company to work for and if you get a chance to consider a role, do so.

Things to consider - The firm is growing rapidly and experiencing some growing pains as they expand into new territories.  Consultants are flying more and there is an increasing number of remote employees (the firm is still adapting)

Many of the tools/systems used by management consultants are designed for accountants/auditors.  Management consultants may also feel somewhat constrained by rules associated with the firm providing financial services

The firm leverages its 95 years of experience and has developed a great system for growth.  Make sure the system fits you.  Ask lots of questions.

Working at Plante Moran introduces you to a place where everyone puts in their maximum effort into making the workplace culture the most inclusive, friendly, and engaging. Every day involved working on assignments given to you, while attending meetings related to upcoming projects within the firm. What I learned most through my internship here was that prioritization, communication, promoting personal growth within a group environment was vital to helping everyone to achieve their goals within their position. The hardest part of the job would be adjusting to balancing out the assignments given to you and making the decision if you need assistance on working projects. However, all staff members, if not occupied with something, will always go out of their way to help you in figuring out what you need help with. The most enjoyable part of the job was working on assignments that were stimulating and involved working in a group environment that allowed you to express your ideas and to get constructive feedback on how to best approach the ideas you want to be instilled in a project. It was also a great place to grow in terms of your own personal goals and to find comfort when needed. Plante Moran is an exceptional firm to work for.

Recently, a member of the management team came to our marketing meeting and talked about co-founder Frank Moran's "grand experiment"--to create a people firm disguised as an accounting firm. A firm where people treat each other the way they'd like to be treated. A firm where people come first, and profits follow.

Sounds too good to be true right? But it is true. I've worked here for 19 years this month, and I don't have plans to go anywhere else. Over that time I've grown from a graphics proofreader to a marketing consultant to a marketing manager--largely because of the support of my fantastic manager and team. They really do care about me, and they've invested a significant amount of time in my development. The best part? I can see the difference that I make at the firm nearly every day. 

The firm is flexible (I work from home at least one day each week), fun (there's an ice cream truck that comes every other week in the summer), and fair (I genuinely believe I'm compensated fairly for the work that I do). It's also challenging, constantly changing, and very fast-paced. The people who work here are some of the brightest people I've ever encountered. I truly feel fortunate to have found PM when I did and am happy to spend my career here.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Feeling of belonging and connection with coworkers. Good quick experience post graduation. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working over 50 hours consistently - ultimately paid less per hour than other pentesting competitors, staff are expected to do the job of 2-5 roles (as would be defined elsewhere, i.e. manager, sales, scheduling, project manager, director, IT), no training, little budget for conferences.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
For the most part people work well with each other and are supportive of one another - at least at the consultant level. Politics definitely becomes evident once you're in management. Everyone is trying to protect their book and push for partner with reduced concern for sensibility, cohesion, and fairness.
You're expected to work long hours to hit hours and sales goals. Minimal training early on to the point imposter syndrome is all but mandatory - though this is less so post COVID as there is a fraction of the traveling to client on the cyber security consulting team.

I’m surprised at how bad the culture is here given how much they rave about it to job prospects. The culture is really more like a cult and if you don’t fit it you won’t succeed. They play favorites and if you aren’t a favorite you won’t get as much work no matter how much you ask then they will complain that you aren’t meeting your role expectations or meeting your ridiculous charge hour goal. There is no flexibility. Are you a newer staff? Well kids working from home goodbye unless you have an excuse. Busy season is busy but the off season you still are expected to work 30+ CHARGE HOURS a week so don’t believe the “less than 40” they tell you in the interview. The health benefits suck and are expensive and the pay is ok. If you don’t like your team partner then prepare to be miserable because everything at this company comes down to your team partner. If you want to actually have a life outside of work that doesn’t involved your coworkers you should probably look elsewhere. 

I was openly mocked by a team member based on my weight, intelligence, and for having a family. I reported the abuse to my manager. Both my manager and partner retaliated toward me and continued to try to build a case for two years. My team barely spoke to me and excluded me from almost all meetings, trainings, conversations, and outside work events. HR tried to play peacekeeper but admitted they couldn’t really make them stop mistreating me. I was never written up as I did not have performance issues, but I was verbally mistreated almost daily for three years. I loved this firm, but I have never been treated so horribly in my life. When I resigned I was told they made me uncomfortable so I would leave because I “didn’t fit” that group. This partner does not allow transfers out of his department. He has a history of mistreatment to staff.

Had some good times working there. However, you're on the outs if you don't anything to say, such as gossip. I came to work, not gossip. Had an interesting co-worker who would stroll into our office and would sit down to write down info to fax. He'd leave a mess at my work station, and very much two-faced. We would put in a request for updated equipment such as computers and copiers, only to put up with more corporate red tape garbage. Lots of egos. You had to make everyone happy or you'll be branded as "unprofessional." Had some good people that I worked with, too. Unfortunately they were far and in between. Got laid off in 1995, which was a blessing in disguise. That one interesting two-faced co-worker that I had mentioned is now promoted to another department. I wish the company lots of luck with him at the helm.

A typical day involved working on a document review, either electronically, or with paper records.  I became very familiar with Concordance, a commonly used legal software, which I learned on the job.  The management was both cordial and clear on procedures.  Our workplace culture was friendly and supportive;  one of the things I liked most about the experience was the quiet atmosphere and the autonomous nature of the work.  The hardest part of the job was, of course, becoming familiar with the sometimes complex aspect of the database, but that was overcome fairly quickly.  The most enjoyable part of the job was how straightforward the work became, once you figured it out.

I will keep this very simple and precise.

If feels tech department are not treated the same as practice staff.
The practice staff come into the company knowing in so many years they will be become an associate. They have options to work from home, after hours, and other type of flexible work life. Once a year they have a firm conference where all the offices come together and celebrate. Many more things to list here, but these are just a few things.

Well, in the tech world this is not the case. Many staff in the tech team have been in the same position, the same office, and almost the same pay for almost ten years. Many came in for an opportunity, but ended up leaving in the same position. and the firm conference? Well, most of the time the tech team has to work that day with no option to leave.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior consultant 8 salaries reported	$102,625 per year
Intern 13 salaries reported	$31.15 per hour
Consultant 10 salaries reported	$81,200 per year
Senior auditor 4 salaries reported	$91,375 per year
Tax accountant 8 salaries reported	$71,500 per year

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