Procter & Gamble Reviews

I have been working at Procter & Gamble

Pros – It is a fast paced and high energy environment. I am always learning new things and it is very rewarding

Cons – Career path has slowed significantly. The time to promotion to the next level has increased substantially. So if you are looking to grow fast P&G is not the place anymore

Advice to Senior Management – They should start forcing attrition internally in order to be able to maintain their top talent. With the current landscape they are going to lose a lot of great people. The ones that stay will not neccesarily be the best

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Procter & Gamble

Pros – Process driven activities pushed positive results. Everyone was very intelligent and very open to making time to speak to you when you first start the job. The open workspace was ideal for creating an open atmosphere to communicate yet it was very difficult to approach management without an appointment request.

Cons – The work life balance is non-existent. The pay is great, yet when you factor in the hours worked it ends up being a very low $/hr. One is really selling their soul to work here. Management repeats the vision statement about the company and asks that you create presentations based on the most current "vision." Be, careful of how you work on projects as an intern. You may be told that you are doing fine one day, then the next day you will find out that your work is unsatisfactory. The work environment is competitive and aggressive. People are only willing to help you if it will benefit them. Management preaches about creating creative presentations, yet they must be completed in a preset template.

Advice to Senior Management – Be more straight forward about feedback. Truthful feedback is essential to cultivate good employees. Don't cut employees short on feedback.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Procter & Gamble

Pros – Fantastic training and development on marketing/management fundamentals - the best in the business. Truly work with top talent. Relatively accessible decision-making/ownership (even at the Brand Manager level). Heritage and prestige of working there. Great coaching on communication, positioning, leadership.

Cons – Has become very insular. Given promote-from-within culture and today's economic/job environment, it has become much more political than ever; feels more like a shark tank than it ever used to. Morale dropping considerably. Just does not feel quite like the P&G we knew and signed up for many years ago. Length of time between promotions has expanded considerably. ALOT of contraction at the top levels (Associate MD and above) so that advancement is extremely difficult, even if you're a water-walker....much less if you're "just" a strong/very strong performer. Too much advocacy, networking, jockeying and positioning/politics required nowadays - particularly in Cincinnati area.

Advice to Senior Management – Modify the promote-from-within policy - when you go outside, you realize just how insular and process-driven P&G is because of it. Also, stop playing around with "destination roles' or "expert roles" - I have been hearing this for 9+ years and nothing has happened. Either do it or let it go and move on.

I have been working at Procter & Gamble

Pros – very good work environment; caring and competent folks; string leadership

Cons – none that i can think of

Advice to Senior Management – none that i can think of

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Procter & Gamble

Pros – good brand in your resume
global opportunities (offices in almost every country in the world)
work-life balance is good enough

Cons – limited career growth opportunities
not a challenging workplace

Advice to Senior Management – Top talent is leaving because of poor organization design

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Procter & Gamble

Pros – The brand name of the Company provides a great brand recognition. Additionally, the people that work there are very friendly and the working environment is relaxed

Cons – There is a lack of direction in terms of career progression and advancement, however, everything else is very positive, and I have nothing to complain about.

Advice to Senior Management – Provide a better structure for entry level candidates and employees. This will provide them with better understanding of the business.

I worked at Procter & Gamble

Pros – they talk a good talk. some of the people in HR have great experience in getting you to go along with their systems.
They have great benefits if they let you stay. A great place if you have never worked anywhere else.
They have a lot of knowledge of consumer insights and marketing research.
Looks good on your resume. If you can get in their folds it is possible to be relocated to other places around the world.

Cons – If you aren't 'raised' by them, they don't want you and will do everything they can do to get rid of you. Even if you get on board and start singing along. They will still push you out. They do not adhere to their own rules. You hear all this stuff about success drivers and Purpose Values & Principles that you are supposed to live by. But management does not live by their own rules.
It is very 1984 ish.
In meetings they talk about how as a manager you have to chose only one person to save in your boat and let the others drown.
There are management seminars on Strength Finders, Focus on your Strengths etc. But when you try to manage that way you are judged as a bad manager because you are not firing that person. But then you see other bad people around you getting promoted all the time because they are someone's friend or whatever.

Advice to Senior Management – Practice what you preach. If you are going to ask your teams to do - then you need to walk the walk and talk the talk and not do just whatever you want. Admit when you make wrong decisions.
When you say you are going to help an employee, then do it.
Listen to what your employees are saying. Don't ignore it. Don't talk bad about previous teams. It only makes you look bad.
Be aware of what your management teams are doing. There is a big problem where management doesn't look down through the levels and they do not see how some really bad people there are affecting teams. And they choose to sacrifice great people so that some really mediocre people stay on board at the detriment of the organization overall. It is as if management would rather stick by their bad decision rather than admit that they made a wrong choice and fix it.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Procter & Gamble

Pros – Interesting and challenging work environment. A lot of resources available for you to succeed. Great people and interesting projects.

Cons – Location (although Cincinnati is tolerable)
Somewhat conservative culture
Not very diverse
Somewhat bureaucratic
Not risk taking enough
Location, Location, Location

Advice to Senior Management – Do not be afraid to be more risk taking and make decisions without full information. Let people work outside of Ohio.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Procter & Gamble

Pros – This is one of the best run companies in the US, with consistently some of the best people across all functions. It is highly principle based and at least at lower levels, politics is diminshed as much as possible in the evaluation of people. Insights on best business practices are routinely shared across divisions and training is heavily supported.

Cons – The main downside is the company has lost its discipline in marketing for evaluating with rigor. As a result, management ranks have become bloated and there is very little advancement at any level in marketing. The company has retrospectively designed its career model to reflect this loss of opportunity, which feels false. It is also too heavily invested in rewarding time at level, which tends to drive talent out of the system.

Advice to Senior Management – Reestablish rigor in evaluation and return to up or out. Remember the time to promotion you had and do not expect those below you to have different expectations.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Procter & Gamble

Pros – they give you a lot of autonomy

Cons – they dont provide a lot of direction, some things are purposely kept broad to keep you thinking

Advice to Senior Management – don't be afraid to ask questions!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend