Meredith Corporation Reviews

Pros

The people are nice with a smaller amount of drama, compared to other publishers. For a large part of my career here, There was (at least) a semblance of listening to those of us in the creative/editorial trenches. Okay pay. And, for freelance work, they're pretty quick with payment, compared with similar publishers. There has also been a recent drive to update technology, as the company has been behind the big boys for years. Also, most of the creative/art people I work with (especially with those in their HQ in Des Moines) are very excellent and enjoyable to work with.

Cons

There seems to be a collective desire to ignore the obvious needs to accomplish goals. Understaffed departments make work take twice as long to do things. A top/down mindset with senior tech officers encourages mindless micromanagement, making work more difficult. Promotion cometh not for those in lower/middle position. But, holy crap, they make VPs in charge of everything in DSM. There's also an over-reliance on outside consultants who provide unworkable workflow solutions.(They also waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on these useless six sigma Douches.) And let's talk compensation. Work loads go up 300-400%, and pay doesn't go up a percentage point (unless you have the words "vice" and/or "president" in your title. People who do the most amount of the work get crapped upon, and those who spend a large part of their time on the phone or abusing the mail service will be employed forever.

Advice to Senior Management

Hey, you guys you say you want to encourage a full utilization of all the new media technologies? How about you guys thinking about paying the people who make this happen? Also, how about actually providing budgets and people to make this happen? Because those of us most involved are all looking to leave to get paid what we are worth elsewhere. You want to encourage financial wellness? Well, how about this: PAY US?

Pros

Great place to learn
Very structured
Training is a priority
The back office systems/support are excellent

Cons

Old school mentality
Training for management-those new to it lacking
Very cookie cutter/corporate when it comes to work life balance..favoritism exists big time
The corp sales team in control of most big profitable accounts leaving individual book reps somewhat useless/paper pushing
LOTS of duplicate internal paperwork/meetings that time suck
Autonomy does not exist-micromanagement is rampant

Advice to Senior Management

TRAIN before promoting people to Mgmt roles
Move into the 21st Century in terms of work life balance....be family friendly!!!!

Pros

- Recognized and respected brands/titles
- Willingness to share information internally among publications
- Strong online presence and team
- Many motivated and talented salespeople

Cons

- Low tolerance for those not fitting a conservative coporate social/religious "template"
- Corporate sales and contracts benefit the company but leave individual magazine sales teams feeling superfluous at times
- Clique-ish environment at upper management levels and within corporate sales
- H.R. department is serious issues with maintaining confidentiality

Advice to Senior Management

Bring your mindsets forward from the 1950's and 1960's and be more accepting of cultural and other diversity. Get rid of the old boy's network mentality.

Pros

Wonderful corporate culture with opportunities for advancement

Cons

"Conservative" pay and benefits when compared to other media outlets

Advice to Senior Management

I would encourage innovation more and offer more incentives

Pros

good work life balance, strong focused leadership, good benefits

Cons

disorganized HR, need to improve technology in publishing

Advice to Senior Management

increase tech awareness, improve IT accessiblity

Pros

realy friendly people to work with

Cons

place is totally fake. Everyone walks around being super enthusiastic and friendly, but the but very little communication. There is no training, little support and employees are kept in the dark. very old fashioned atmosphere. Plan on sitting in many internal meetings.

Advice to Senior Management

annual performance reviews should be based solely on a measure of business contribution; not how well you fit into the culture.

Pros

Pay slightly higher than comparable publishing houses.

Cons

Management not the best - lacking in career support and mentoring.

Advice to Senior Management

The higher ups and bottom line are valued higher than the majority of employees - fix this and retain talent.

Pros

Salaries are, as they say, competitive and employees receive a wide range of benefits. The company invests heavily in projects and publications favored by senior management. Some divisions still allow relatively young staffers to develop their skills and responsibilities, although these opportunities have diminished considerably in the past 7 years.

Cons

Senior employees (in both age and experience) tend to be among the first to go when the company cuts back. There's a disconnect between senior management's direction for the company and their willingness to train existing employees to take the company in that direction. They only train people to be managers, and the management layers can get pretty thick. Senior management has an almost blind faith in some publications' managers, regardless of the warning signs, and seem almost clueless about the creative side of the business.

Advice to Senior Management

There's a bad habit of buying publications and running them into the ground. At least one senior manager taken from the editorial--instead of sales--ranks might help reduce such losses. Spend more training money enhancing the skills of people who actually do the work, not on their managers. (By the way, "management" and "leadership" are two different things.) Quit spending more resources on new media ventures than you'll ever make back in fees and ads without some sort of business model to guide you.

Pros

Good support from managers, coworkers, etc. on all aspects on job.
Engaging work and projects with constant constructive feedback, great about an open door policy feel.

Cons

At times the work and projects provided can hit "dead spots" where internal motivation to complete and keep working at a good pace is difficult.

Advice to Senior Management

Do everything possible to continue building and maintain the positive reputation within the area community.

Pros

Great midtown location; company is trying to be progressive with acquisitions, etc; it's nice to think you're working to make life better for women

Cons

Work life balance? Not
poor advancement opportunities unless you switch roles completely
not supportive of women in the workplace
internal political nonsense is extreme
competition between ny and DES moines is seriously bad

Advice to Senior Management

What flies in dam doesn't fly in NYC. Treat people better. Create opportunities for growth. Sometimes you need to spend money to make money. Proper staffing is key.