West Monroe Partners Named to 2013 Great Place to Work Best Small & Medium Workplaces List published in FORTUNE magazine

Firm Recognized for the First Time; Profile Cites Strong People-first Culture, Including Recent Introduction of Employee Stock Ownership Plan

West Monroe Partners, a full-service North American business and technology consultancy, today announced that it has been named by Great Place to Work as one of the best workplaces in the United States on its annual 2013 Best Small & Medium Workplaces list, published today in FORTUNE magazine. Ranked 20, this is West Monroe Partners’ first time receiving this honor.

Great Place to Work cited West Monroe Partners’ culture and, in particular, its people-first values as a distinguishing factor that contributed to this recognition. In its profile of West Monroe Partners, Great Place to Work calls out the firm’s recently implemented employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), “CXO” (chief “something” officer) program, career equity initiative, and 1+1+1 social responsibility program as unique elements that contribute to a strong and compelling culture and workplace.

A survey of more than 200 West Monroe Partners employees produced ratings of greater than 95 percent in six areas: great challenges (98 percent), great atmosphere (98 percent), great pride (98 percent), great communication (98 percent), great bosses (97 percent), and great rewards (96 percent).

“We are extremely honored to receive this recognition from Great Place to Work for the first time,” said Dean Fischer, West Monroe Partners’ CEO and co-founder. “We founded this firm with the intent to create a distinctive culture, and it is particularly rewarding to see how this impacts our people today—after 11 years and significant growth and expansion. What struck me the most was a comment from one of our employees who has worked for a number of consulting companies and describes our firm as ‘nothing like any of them.’”

Competing against hundreds of companies across the country, West Monroe Partners participated in a rigorous selection process, which included an employee survey and an in-depth questionnaire about benefits programs and company practices. Great Place to Work evaluates each application using its unique methodology based on five dimensions: credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie. In compiling the list, Great Place to Work® has found that employees believe they work for great organizations when they consistently trust the people the work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.

Divided into two categories, Small (50-250 employees) and Medium (251-999 employees), the list has recognized companies with exceptional workplace cultures for the past ten years.

“The companies appearing on our Best Small & Medium Workplaces list help us achieve our mission by presenting others with an example to emulate. These companies demonstrate that being an excellent employer leads to business success,” said Robert Levering, CEO and Co-founder of Great Place to Work. “While these companies may be relatively small in headcount, many of them provide services to some of the country’s largest and most notable organizations, suggesting that success has not so much to do with size as with the quality of service and experience a company provides. A great workplace, full of great employees, is better equipped to achieve that success.”

Organizations named on the list see many benefits that include better financial performance, less employee turnover, higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, more innovative and creative thinking, higher productivity and enhanced public perception.

More information about Great Place to Work is available at www.greatplacetowork.com.

About Great Place to Work
Great Place to Work^® is a global consulting and management training firm specializing in workplace excellence and development of high-trust organizational cultures. Its proprietary research tool, the Trust Index© Employee Survey is taken by over 10 million employees in 45 countries annually. Leading companies worldwide apply its Model® to increase the levels of trust across their organizations and drive business results. Annually, Great Place to Work® produces the annual FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® list and the Great Place to Work® Best Small and Medium Workplaces list. Follow Great Place to Work® online at www.greatplacetowork.com and on Twitter at @GPTW_US.