Forget unlimited vacation: West Monroe Partners pays their employees to take months of leave from the company to make the world a better place.
The 14-year-old business and tech consulting firm began offering the Fischer Global Service Fellowship Program in 2014, an in-house fellowship in which employees take a paid sabbatical from the company to volunteer or work on a service project for several months--sometimes upwards of six months. While it's a bit of an unconventional break from work, West Monroe Leadership said it's a way to double down on their social responsibility and help employees develop leadership skills in a new setting.
"Any time you can connect what you’re passionate about in your personal life to your professional life, you’re exponentially better," said Susan Stelter, West Monroe's chief administrative officer and leader of the Fischer Fellowship.
Over the past three years, nine employees of West Monroe Partners' 800 person staff have done the Fischer Fellowship. Fellows have tackled clean water projects in Nicaragua, working against human trafficking in Nepal, and consulting on facility infrastructure at an Ohio veterans hospital, among other projects. Stelter said they're particularly looking for employees who are truly passionate about an issue and have a plan to make a difference.
Employees must have worked at West Monroe for two years before they can apply (though Stelter said they've considered candidates who have been employed for just a year), and commit to work at West Monroe for a year when they return. The company pays for their volunteer-related costs, and their salary on a pro-rated basis.
The idea came out of West Monroe wanting to extend the impact of their corporate responsibility (currently they have a “1-1-1 Program,” a company-wide initiative to invest one percent of the firm’s time, talent and "treasure"--money--towards social good). But their leadership team wanted those employees who were particularly passionate about a cause to have the opportunity to make a real difference.
"We wanted to create a space where people could really make an impact," said Stelter. "It’s hard to do that on weekends or on a part time basis or just on a project."
While six to eight months is a significant time to spend away from work, Stelter said they plan the trips several months in advance and try to work around client projects, which eases the in-office burden. And the payoff often comes in unconventional leadership training: One employee who was working to teach IT skills in Ghana ran into problems with the classroom facilities, power outages, and students' financial challenges outside the classroom.
"We think this is an extension of their leadership development...they’re often in very challenging situations where they don’t have the same resources as they would here locally, so they have to get very creative in how they would fix that [problem]," Stelter said.
That isn't to say it is the best retention strategy--some of their past fellows have become so taken with their work they've joined the Peace Corps and took new jobs that related to their service.
We’re creating leaders that go out into the world and do good
And while putting an emphasis on community service and volunteering is something many tech companies and startups weave into their company culture, actually allowing employees to take time out of their workday to pursue personal projects is less common. And it doesn't always work--Google's infamous "20% time" program, which let employees work on personal projects for the company, has largely gone away, according to reports, because employees are too busy.
Stelter insists, however, that for West Monroe Partners, it's a employment perk that has benefits beyond keeping employees happy.
"We’re creating leaders that go out into the world and do good, and take their talents with them," she said.
