IBM Reviews in London, UK Area

Pros

good company with training, develop skills, networking client engagement, business development good salary, good coworkers, depend on what you can do

Cons

not flexible, too much travel, no work from home, rigid, lot of processes to follow, manangement is not in great shape

Advice to Senior Management

more leadership, more flexible, more sharing, develop staff more, have more visibility, less process, less meetings, less travel requriements, that's all

Pros

People you work with are superb, the technology is also superb and you have the chance to impact some areas where sales are concerned.

Cons

No recognition, no pay increases although the company has consistently exceeded profit levels year on year, thanks to the hard work by employees, bonuses reduced year on year and targets/sales plans made more difficult to achieve each year. Bonus payment went from a team/profit lead approach to a manager recognition approach, with the senior management having final say, so unless you could walk on water you very rarely got a bonus over the past 2 years.

Advice to Senior Management

Allow people to be more business creative and reduce the crippling process control that is in place within the company.

Pros

- good projects to work on with location options
- competitive environment
- flexible work options available
- good brand to have on CV

Cons

- not very friendly HR policies, in terms of general benefits, paid coffee!
- politics at senior management level, for promotions, etc.

Pros

Access to an endless resource of expertise in all areas worldwide.
A well respected brand.
Flexible working arrangements available.
Not micromanaged.
Many different career paths available.

Cons

Sometimes a little too big, solutions can get over-engineered
Consistent yearly pay increases but need to move roles for anything significant

Pros

You get to specialize in a role. There are a lot of opportunities to work on client engagements. You can develop skills in consulting.

Cons

Career progression may be slow as there are a large number of consultants at IBM. Salaries are in the mid to mid-low region.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue the good work of adding new areas of work for their employees. Keep watch for changes in the market.

Pros

Work/life balance is acknowledged more than most companies and there is huge scope for moving between business units. Good career move and great training options though. IBM finds it difficult to fire people who have a successful career record.

Cons

A consistent erosion of benefits packages over time at IBM. Poor benefit schemes. Little sales culture. Huge beaurocracy.

Advice to Senior Management

A current employee earns £x, but the market rate for his salary is £x+20%. If he leaves, you'll need to replace him with someone from a competitor, who already earns £x+20%, so you need to offer him £x+40% to tempt him away. Wouldn't it have been cheaper, easier and more efficient just to pay the current employee the market rate salary?

Pros

Good training
Skilled colleagues
Good breadth of high profile clients

Cons

Poor pay rises
Long hours expected

Advice to Senior Management

Pay better!

Pros

Good company but need to be on top of your career. Good Benefits. Pension Funding, flexibility and holiday etc, good maternity/paternity leave.

Cons

You have look after your career the your managers doesn't bother about your career. the benefits price is too high. Virtually no pay rise.

Advice to Senior Management

Should assist employees with their career, should give pay rises to encourage employees, should be more pro-active on training the employees.

Pros

Good hours
Easy to be seen to perform at a high level
Great people

Cons

Very poor pay at lower org levels
Tedious processes for everything
Major information overload at all times re company products,policies,strategy etc.
Very sales oriented to the point where I question their genuine client care
Cut-throat internally regarding internal structuring of deals

Advice to Senior Management

Pay according to what people deserve. To pay consultants median IT industry pay is not sustainable and the lack of talent shows. Graduate turnover is very high and will continue to be with the current package offered. Be careful of being too sales oriented. This will scare away clients.

Pros

excellent place to work.recommended to anyone joining.

Cons

too large at times leading to challenges.