Monsanto Company Reviews

Pros

Relatively flat hierarchy, good leadership, cutting edge innovation, talented co-workers. I have never worked for a company that encourages this much innovation and teamwork. I love coming to work everyday.

Cons

Work life balance is bad. If you are not careful, your work hours can easily extend to 50/60 hours a week. The company has been in a constant state of change for the past three years, which makes it difficult to feel that your job is secure.

Pros

Good work life balance
Decent pay

Cons

Hire and fire culture
You need to wait for a life time to get to next level.
Poor training framework

Advice to Senior Management

Take in more employees and retain them.
Spend money on training

Pros

Lots of opportunities for growth

Cons

The pay is average as compared to other companies

Advice to Senior Management

They should engage and educate mid level employees in the going ons and business of the company

Pros

--Salary
--Benefits
--Friendships
--A really terrific severance package if you're able to tough it out
--The reign of terror once over IT Infrastructure has been moved back to Commercial
--The incompetent 'senior leader' and over opinionated 'soccer mom' both quit shortly after getting new leadership

Cons

--Reviews based upon how much your manager likes you, not what you are able to deliver
--Hiring based upon enthics/gender and not qualifications
--Interchangeable staff--'move every 3 years'
--No true work-life balance or fit
--Extreme dating scene! So many married, dating, or divorced couples
--Very short term focused. Does not look at the long term impact

Advice to Senior Management

Get real feedback, from your employees and your customers, not customed and tailored such that you only hear what you want to hear.

Pros

They are flexible in the area of time off. For the most part you are not micromanaged and as long as the work gets done everything is ok. The benefits are great. For the most part the work environment is great.

Cons

Management at this location needs some serious attention. The majority of people at this site have been working together for ~10 years. Since Monsanto took over in 2005 there have been numerous reorganizations. A site this small should have already identified its employees wants, the sites' business needs and the best way to utilize the talent they have. This has not been the case. People are moved around without any input or direction of their own. It's sad too that salary disparity is an issue as well. I'm grateful to have a job but I do not feel this site upholds Monsanto's commitment to creating and maintaing a great work environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Hurry and complete a market analysis of salaries and correct the inefficiencies. Retrain current or recruit new management for this site. A site this small should run close to seamlessly. Obviously this is not the case. I really don't think you want to hear this as there is no direct survey conducted other than the L180 direct manager feedback survey. Perhaps you should should hold some one on one interviews to glean more insight on the current problems here.

Pros

The company offers good employee benefits

Cons

No active training programs / education for employees. Restructuring has had a negative impact on the atmosphere though I expect it to recover over time. Limited growth opportunities unless you are willing to move abroad.

Pros

Work/Life Balance is excellent. Management is very accommodating when family issues require a change in work schedule.
Excellent benefits package.
Very competent coworkers with a minimum of drama for a company this size.

Cons

Multiple recent reorganizations, with and without cuts, are a drain on productivity and morale.
There is not a clearly communicated advancement path for technical positions.

Advice to Senior Management

Realize that reorganizations and cuts not only impact those that are cut, but also have a huge morale and productivity impact on those that remain. In the future, try to not to hire so many so fast during the good times, so we aren't forced to cut as much during the lean times.

Pros

Monsanto has a gorgeous campus and overall very nice facilities. My schedule is relatively flexible, I can arrive at work at 6am and leave by 2pm, as long as I am at 40 hours by the end of the week its not a problem.

Cons

Working side by side with some of the laziest individuals who accomplish in one week what literally takes me an hour. Though specific incidents have been brought to the attention of management things remain unchanged, an email might go out to the whole department "reminding" us to work as efficiently as possible. This is my first experience in a corporate setting which I understand will be very different from private but if the stockholders saw the performance of these paid employees I guarantee they would be outraged.

Advice to Senior Management

Take action.

Pros

The people you get to work with are top quality. They all have something to teach you and all know how to have fun, too. The company is very good about safety and a work-life balance. Working at the headquarters also offers an invaluable opportunity to collaborate with and meet people from all different departments.

Cons

As with all big companies, many decisions are driven by politics. Entire projects and even departments have been cut suddenly.

Advice to Senior Management

In my experience, meeting regularly with one's superior to get feedback on performance has been key in keeping employees motivated and interested in what they do. It helps to maintain a stream of communication that emphasizes the roles that one's day-to-day responsibilities play in the larger picture.

Pros

Flexible schedule, good communication and wonderful people

Cons

Contractors are better than perm employees and contractors are the ones cut during cut backs, too many meetings