best companies to work for 2011>>> LARGE COMPANIES HEADQUARTERed OUTSIDE WASHINGTON The Seattle team of West Monroe Partners. first place Celebrating accomplishment fat cats reads one comment in the Best Companies survey of employees at West Monroe Partners. contributes and works hard for our clients and for the If there were any fat cats at the downtown Seattle branch of the Chicago-based business and technology consulting firm, be hard to spot. There are no private offices in the 5,000-square-foot space, where the open floor plan encourages interaction and cross-discipline teamwork among the 30 employees. The managers lead by example here, running projects and working with clients as rigorously as everyone else. The focus is on the execution of large-scale transformational projects in seven different industries. One of the most ambitious current projects is coordination of the SB july 2011 merger between Addison Avenue Federal and First Tech credit unions, the largest such merger in the country. Employees work as a team to create an annual strategy articulation map of objectives and initiatives, and the map stays on display in the employee conference room. Unlike many goals or mission statements that are laminated but never followed, West Monroe map serves as a guide for success and is a constant point of reference. Included in this guide is a model for social responsibility, by which employees have agreed to give percent of their time, one percent of their services (pro bono) and percent of their profits to nonprofit and charitable causes. Accomplishments both professional and personal are celebrated at West Monroe Partners. One employee recently returned from a two-week vacation in Tanzania, expressly to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, and Managing Director Tom Bolger crested Mount Rainier last year, fulfilling a decades-long personal goal. celebrate this kind of says Thomas Ewers, director of private equity and alternative investments. Indeed, the bulletin board in the company kitchen is a collage of photos highlighting office snowshoeing excursions, a trip to Emerald Downs and a summer barbecue at house. The cohesiveness among employees is exhibited across the board, says Bolger, pointing out the 100 percent participation in last all-staff trip to Leavenworth to celebrate Oktoberfest. culture here says Ewers, the best ever photograph by hayley young