Gensler reviews

Where do I start? A few years ago, leadership changed and we lost some key people. Since then, the Chicago office seems to be going downhill fast. There are some serious business development issues, and lack of new work coming in. Management is disconnected from the actual work getting done, and fails to recognize the people who make it happen. Mentorship is hard to come by. Very hierarchical, and this seems to be getting worse. True collaboration is a hard to come by in this office. Perhaps this is due to the intense competition and a strong turf-protecting behavior. The place is becoming a revolving door and few people stay for long periods of time due to turnover, layoffs, and terminations. The only way to make it is here is to get a principal to take you under their wing ... if you could only manage to get a minute of their time....

Gensler doubles management. Each office has two managing directors, each region has two managing principals, etc. These folks seem to basically just overhead, with little project time, so it is a costly way to run an office or region. The two managing directors are both interior architects - neither really seems ti know how to build a full-service architecture practice. Both seem content to stay in their private offices with very little interaction with the rest of the studios. Gensler use the term collaboration a lot (as well as "One Firm Firm"), but the firm is highly silo-ed - within offices and between branch offices. Studios rarely collaborate with each other in the same office because studio directors seem extremely territorial. Firm is hypocritical about collaboration - they say it all the time to clients but do not practice it. Management measures every employee on every possible metric. Billability is highly scrutinized and there is a very opaque system for bonuses and promotions. Whenever there is a mandatory office or studio meeting, you are usually required to makeup that time after hours.