General Mills Reviews in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Area

Pros

Brand management training ground- good, smart people. If you are looking for a great place to start your career post MBA, this is it.

Cons

Long hours, low percentage of people make it past brand manager. Currently takes 4 years for promotion to manager level. 1st manager level job rarely involves people management.

Pros

Surrounded by talented, collaborative, modest people who have a "can do" attitude.
Ability to work on many different iconic brands in different stages of growth.
Large group of people in the GMI marketing community but has a small feel b/c everyone gets to know one another.
Well-managed

Cons

Some unfairness in who is required to do non-traditional marketing roles. Some people work on established brand after established brand so they, naturally, become better-performers on established brands than their peers who have worked on new products, channels, etc.

Advice to Senior Management

Start promoting General Mills through PR the way P&G does - General Mills has just as much talent but employees who leave don't receive the same respect as P&G defectors. Mills doesn't carry the same cache.
I would also recommend that GMI work to practice the same "up or out" mentality on Directors, VPs and Presidents that it doesn't hesitate to execute on AMM and MM level marketers.

Pros

- Work/Life balance
- Retirement benefits
- Company car
- Meaningful work even for entry level employees
- Competitive salary

Cons

- At times, repetitive work

Pros

Substantial training for new hires. relatively good compensation campared to other companies same size.
flex time--
easy money

Cons

No room for promotions
Too much politics

Advice to Senior Management

Be honest and truthful when reviewing employees for promations
Promote employees based on what they can do and not on who they know

Pros

Very collaborative workplace. Minneapolis was a great place during the summer. The work was meaningful. Plenty of activities both in and out of work.

Cons

"Minneapolis nice" didn't understand it until I got there. I prefer more direct communication. Mills has a way of beating around the bush when giving criticism.

Pros

General Mills encourages rotating through multiple different positions in order to get a wide perspective and better understanding of our business processes and challenges.

Cons

As with any large company, there is a fair share of red tape and rules. Even if a manager wants to promote an employee, HR may shoot it down because of generic rules.

Pros

great talent and good benefits/culture

Cons

can be a bit traditional and conservative

Pros

Very current with the latest technology, wide range of different job types.

Cons

Promotions seem to depend more on who your manager is than merit.

Pros

Very supportive of work-life balance. The ability to work independently and design my own projects around specified goals. The benefits - vacation days, 401k match, etc. The focus on health and wellness - i.e. access to treadmills to walk on while working on the computer, nutrition stations with bananas, yogurt, oranges, skim milk, and cereal.

Cons

Mandatory masters degree or significant time in service (20+ years, if even then) to gain promotion to scientist/manager levels, yet some technicians are doing the same job as the scientists they work with.

Pros

Smart, capable people in a fun environment working to make General Mills a success.

Cons

GMI is also a very large organization of about 30,000 employees. you could get lost in the fray.