There are not many financial companies which stop people working excessive hours. But global consultant Watson Wyatt helps individuals and teams cut back when they are working too hard. It also has a flexible working policy to support the efforts of associates to achieve a successful work-life balance.
The Reigate-based company, which made profits of £72.8m on sales of £199.1m last year, was founded in its present form in 1995 and has nine offices in Britain.
Salaries are as high, as might be expected in a company with a top-notch list of clients. It advises 53 out of the top 100 UK corporate pension funds. The average consultant's salary plus allowances, bonuses and other payments is about £60,000 a year; no surprise then that Watson Wyatt records a top 20 ranking among the 100 best companies for contentment with pay and benefits. The organisation employs 151 more men than women, with 174 men earning more than £55,000 compared with 43 women.
Management is good, and more than 73% of employees say they get support from their manager when they need to learn new skills, 74% say he or she trusts their judgment and 72% say they have confidence in the leadership skills of the senior management team.
Sabbaticals are available after 10 years and there are perks such as discounted bicycles, sacrificing salary for additional holiday, and awards for customer service and introducing new ways of working.
Employees have a sense of ownership in the company, with 74% proud to work for it and 77% claiming the organisation is run on strong values and principles (a top 50 score among our 100 best companies).
You would hope a management consultancy would know when to invest in its own people and Watson Wyatt seems to, with attractive salaries, £2m spent on training last year and another £315,000 on social events.
The company is keen to put something back into the community; employees rank the organisation 44th among the 100 best companies for this. It promotes recycling, discourages avoidable travel and its associates work an hour a week with children in primary schools, helping them with number-based learning activities.