General Mills Reviews

Pros

Give interns real projects that will make an impact to the company.

Cons

More days in MN for MEA interns to connect with MN managers and Directors.

Pros

-Salary and Bonus
-Great for those interested in living in an affordable city in the Midwest
-Company small enough to have access to function VPs and senior management without many tiers.
-Very established and influential black champions network. General Mills and HR provide many advancement opportunities to their members and fast track African Americans.

Cons

-For some people, Minnesota is not the place to be
-First impressions matter too much, your career potential depends on side conversations or superficial opinions others have of you
-General Mills is not extremely political, but networking is a MUST. Many times promotions will be based on who you know versus how do you perform

Advice to Senior Management

General Mills used to be a very Minnesota based company with a strong Minnesota culture. Management should continue hiring experienced and/or international candidates. The difference in background and experiences will allow General Mills to become more innovative and better prepared for the international challenges ahead.

Pros

strong collaborative culture and work life balance

Cons

too laid back need more structure

Pros

Great brands
Great co-workers (extremely bright and talented across all functions)
Great compensation over time
Organization has positive intent and truly cares about employees
Highly ethical
Very strong executive leadership

Cons

Tendency to mold people to majority style
Longer path to promotion than peers
Minnesota nice, passive aggresive culture, and resulting lack of transparency in performance, potential, or promotion

Advice to Senior Management

Dont travel the country and globe to hire the best and the brightest talent only to mold them into one style and keep them backlogged in thier path to promotion. We're a top tier performer as is, imagine the possibilities if we could truly unleash the potential of all team members

Pros

Work/life balance is a plus. Always willing to work around my personal needs. Have given me a fair amount of opportunity to advance.

Cons

Compensation is just fair (for manufacturing at least). They call it "competetive" but it's just ok. I see a lot of jobs where I could make more money posted all the time. It's just never enough to take me off my current career path or give up a known work/life balance.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay leaders in manufacturing more to ensure retention

Pros

Flexible, if you need off in an emergency, you'll just go.
Diversity, if you're a diversity candidate, you'll get great support and prefferential treatment.
Stability, regardless of how stupid they are, they'll be there and be stable.

Cons

Arrogance and dissrespect from leadership at plant level (corporate folks are ok)

unrealistic expectations - they ask for miracles, and don't respect what it took to make them happen

uneven work distribution- if you're a "do-er" they'll ride you in the ground and claim credit for everything you do. if you're not a do-er, you'll be promoted easily but you have to be ready to do it by stepping on someone.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn to respect your people and by this i mean plant leadership team, not plant floor people. Many people will stay and take it like i have waiting for retirement, but life's too short, i'm vested, and i'll be gone within 30 days. I wish them luck, and they should thank their lucky charms that the company is so profitable it can make money while pouring it down the drain in buckets.

Pros

Very ethical company, great opportunities for learning and advancement, great benefits. Progresive company that do what they say and believe in hiring the very best and supporting them with all the tools they need to succeed.

Cons

None that I can find

Pros

Great people to work with, good career advancement, good vacation policy, fast paced and always doing something new and trying to improve.

Cons

Not a lot of coordination between plants, even plants in the same division. The company values marketing employees way more than technical employees, pays them on a different scale, and brings them in at a much higher level even though they have no real world skills.

Advice to Senior Management

Reward people for outside training they receive while in the company, don't silo people as much as you do.

Pros

Highly Educated Peers
Work/Life Balance
Challenging Work

Cons

Generally conservative decision making
Matrix organization

Pros

Phenomenal coworkers
Strong development focus, supported by culture and resources
Strong support of diversity and inclusion
Respect for work/life balance
Many great leaders
Opportunity to grow and move to new positions (even new functions) throughout career if you're performing well

Cons

Decisions can take too long
The way you present yourself to certain people can be almost as important as what you contribute to the business