Diageo North America Reviews

Pros

Open to all ideas, very innovative
Flexible hours - ability to work from home and other offices
Lots of product launches in an efficient, quick time
Company motto is "Celebrating life, every day, responsibly"
Most locations have a bar on site

Cons

Since they are open to all ideas, you have to take everyone's opinion into consideration
Lots of multi-tasking, working on multiple projects at one time
High demand, fast paced, quick results turn around work environment

Advice to Senior Management

Lots of high spending on group/department meetings, including off-site meetings, can use that money towards retaining or hiring more employees

Pros

fun products
great brands
flexibile work arrangements, abbreviated fridays; work from home when appropriate
entreprenuerial enviroment for those that don't need much training or direction
bright and energetic employees

Cons

routine and excessive re-orgs and layoffs
consultants are embedded in the leadership
priorities are unclear and change often
values are written down but not practised

Advice to Senior Management

Live and enforce the values. Stick to a strategy and see it through. Offer more training for this very young organisation.

Pros

Great brands, some very capable people.

Cons

Inconsistent mgmt direction, frequent Mgmt turnover, lack of consistent strategy and org structure. Lack of empathy toward employees needs.

Advice to Senior Management

Show more interest in employees wants and needs, empathy. Set consistent strategy and deliver against it.

Pros

great brand porfolio, ok salary, good benefits, looks good on resume working for market leader.

Cons

incompetent management; the analysts seem to know more than the managers/directors
unethical business practices
highly political, the hard workers are not recognized instead all the work gets dumped on you and you're put on the black list while the ones that don't do any work and just play "office politics" get promoted. Not very encouraging.
constant lay offs; they can't seem to figure out that they're strategy is especially since the competition is catching up
high in favoritism
they don't practice what they preach and don't stand for the companies values
Lack of smart people

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your survey scores because otherwise you will never make it to the top companies to work for. Reward those that are actually doing the work and tone down the office politics and unethical business practices.

Pros

* Cool brands
* Summer hours on Fridays
* Happy hours

Cons

* Frequent layoffs- many wonder when they will get laid off, not if. Makes for an unproductive environment
* Waste lots of money
* Top heavy
* Many Managers are simply not smart/don't have enough experience
* CYA environment- people are insecure about their jobs and will throw you under the bus
* Some people are down right mean- not an inclusive environment (as they like to preach)
* So concerned with diversity, they will hire/promote diverse candidate over most qualified

Advice to Senior Management

Take a look at who is running your departments- are they really qualified? Stop wasting money. Layoffs are not always the way to save money.

Pros

Great brands and great benefits. Regional offices are filled with people who are passionate about what they do, love the brands, and work together to get the job done, even in tough times.

Cons

* Too many chiefs and not enough indians
* Inconsistencies in the way managers rewarded their direct reports
* Frequent restructuring of the company
* Ineffective people managers who only focused on their "superstars"
* Outdated and lopsided bonus structure

Advice to Senior Management

The recent restructuring in the US affected a large portion of the workforce. People felt ignored as if their contribution to the company, whether it was short-term, or long-term, meant very little at the end. My advice - if Diageo truly wants to be recognized as one of the "Best Places To Work" in the US, take the necessary steps to model itself after those companies that are consistently recognized on the Forbes list year after year. That means starting with the way they treat their employees; concentrate on the hard-hitting feedback from the annual surveys, and realize that those same employees are shareholders too.

Pros

Given a Quarterly Per diem of $225+ to purchase company product.
Company pension plan is very good and you do not need to contribute
Opportunity to make a difference if given the right backing.

Cons

Since the 2008 downturn in the economy there have been layoffs 3 times to downsize and get more competitive. The company seems to care more about shareholders more than employees.

Advice to Senior Management

I would agree that sufficient communication time is given prior to layoffs although announcing a possible layoff and then letting people wait a month to hear if they have their job is not right. That time period leads for more angst and lower productivity. If you are going to layoff, tell the people that will be leaving immediately.

Pros

Diageo gives employees excellent benefits.

Cons

Constant change in upper management.

Pros

- Interesting Industry/Brand Portfolio, great conversation starter
- Generally a fun atmosphere
- Great perks/benefits
- Pay above average for similar roles

Cons

- Staffing cuts too deep and quality and work/life balance are suffering
- Sometimes seems as though priorities are not aligned across functions
- Constant restructuring creates lack of clarity in roles/responsibilities

Pros

+ Freedom to succeed
+ Work-life balance
+ Nice people
+ Great location
+ Beautiful office space
+ Nice gym

Cons

+ Lots of org change
+ Not a growing market
+ Poor maternity leave
+ Culture of entitlement
+ Fascination with the next hot thing

Advice to Senior Management

Before you change a structure or a way of working, make sure that you have really assessed whether it is working or not, and are not just trying something new because it is time to change