When you think of Morgan Stanley, you think big bucks, sharp suits and graduate training. While nearly half the 6,727 employees earn in excess of £100,000, there’s nothing predicable about this firm. For a start, once a month workers in the Glasgow office dress down, many in jeans, to raise money for charity, and while a degree is more the norm for recruits, temps and school leavers have also developed successful careers.

One woman who started after completing high school in Glasgow is now working in the Tokyo office — clearly one of Morgan Stanley’s good investments.

Such is the reputation of this organisation that staff are proud to be associated with it, earning the US investment bank and global financial services firm an 82% positive score in our employee survey. They would readily recommend others to get a job here (81%), the third highest score for this statement.

Good leadership, great pay and excellent prospects create a wealth of contentment among employees. The fact that one in 10 members of staff has banked a decade of service and almost a third have worked for the firm for at least five years is evidence that people like it here.

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Turning up the Heat pays off

Strong training and a sense that work is to be enjoyed add up to Heat powering past its rivals into top spot this year

BACKGROUND

• Hats off to great leadership

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• Fly high with the X Factor

• Why it pays to know what you’re doing

BACKGROUND

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• Special awards for best practice

• Rules of engagement

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Multimedia

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David Charlton, 44, a member of the senior management team in the Glasgow office, has worked for Morgan Stanley for 19 years. “You get promoted for what you do, not how long you have been here,” says Charlton, an executive director in the operations division. “And you get compensated for it. We are such a large organisation we can cater for a lot of different types of people with lots of different types of ambitions.”

The firm wins an 80% positive score for being good for employees’ personal growth and giving them experience that is valuable for their future.

It also makes for stimulating work (76%, a score bettered by only two other companies) and a feeling among staff that they can make a difference (73%, a top five score).

Flexibility is something Morgan Stanley knows all about and Tracy Jack, a senior manager in the firm’s private wealth management division, benefits from a compressed working week that allows her to balance her home and work life. As a manager she’s also flexible with her staff and lets them leave early or come in late if opportunities arise. No wonder staff think senior managers truly live the values of this organisation (69%, a top 10 result).

As well as its support for charities, Morgan Stanley runs an eight-week course to help unemployed people in Glasgow get jobs and it gains credit from staff for giving back (64%, a top five score) and running its business on strong principles (74%).

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