Reed Elsevier Group Reviews

Pros

A good work and life balance

Cons

Dissatisfied salary level compared with other companies in the industry.
Sometimes more talk than work.
Product launching is sometimes not very pragmatic.

Advice to Senior Management

Better salary level
Being more pragmatic when launching new products.

Pros

The company has a big footprint in many markets and is moving toward some new and exciting technologies/products. It is trying to promote cross fertilisation across its many businesses so there is often an opportunity to work in a completely new field if it is of interest to you. Also, the overall work/life balance is strong.

Cons

The corporate functions are generally quite removed from the day-to-day activities of the many businesses it owns. This means that it often acts more like an investment management firm rather than a head of a unified company. The CEO is very distant and culture/leadership from the top is not strong.

Advice to Senior Management

Work to better integrate the group, creating an environment where corp managers are eager to engage you and offer innovative ideas. This will also increase communication, making it less necessary for us to provide you with the great amount of data you require which burdens the businesses more than previous CEOs.

Pros

Great work life balance, they understand that employees have lives and the goal is to do your job not just show up in a specific location.

It is a truly global organization so the opportunity to interact meaningfully with a wide range of people is very real.

Cons

Elsevier can be very euro-centric in how people are promoted and treated. When I was there it was much more common for Europeans to be promoted into senior U.S. based positions than the opposite. It came across as a glass ceiling for Americans.

Getting things done can be tedious. There are layers of internal departments who main function appears to be form completion and project delay. This is common to many large organizations so it's not a unique problem. It did get worse over time though as more MBAs entered the business.

Pros

Some excellent talented people work there. Independence to excel if you know what you want to accomplish

Cons

lack of training (if that is required)
highly political to the point of being ineffectual

Advice to Senior Management

look up the facts yourself and don't let perception and the views of a few incompetents influence decision making and strategy

Pros

good health benefits for all employees and family

Cons

senior management is inconsistent and makes snap decisions

Advice to Senior Management

need to be more proactive and reward good talent

Pros

Salary was OK if you worked overtime. Team I worked in was good and we were able to attend some training.

Cons

Bad decisions and complete lack of communication from senior management. So poor that the directors outsourced devisions to an Indian company. No thought of employee welfare what so ever.

Advice to Senior Management

N/A

Pros

Generally treats its employees well. Time off, working flexibility are good, pensions, benefit were good but have been getting worse. Work life can be very pleasant and measured, all the usual trappings of a company their size.

Cons

No-one's heard of the company. People know the brands but expect to explain how to pronounce Reed Elsevier (reed el-severe) let alone what they do. It seems like change happens at a glacial place. Management has been turned over several times in the last 2yrs, this, coupled with the downturn, has led to continued product stagnation and a general lack of overall direction. They've been steadying the ship but don't have a rudder or any wind the sails.

Advice to Senior Management

Set some direction, communicate it, to the employees and to the market stick to it.

Pros

Good work/life balance, excellent benefits and supportive colleagues, plus opportunities to work outside the UK

Cons

Company's excessive pricing policy in the past and ill-considered outsourcing (causing lower standards) has lowered reputation with more traditional customers

Advice to Senior Management

Having been seen to leave 'premiership' paper publishing to rivals such as OUP, developing successful electronic business model is essential.

Pros

Fair treatment of employees, transparent policies, mgt. pretty good. They are recently becoming good at allowing movement to parts of the company but that is only recent. Finally, they are fair, in general, to employees, with some notable exceptions like every company has.

Cons

Not reacting well to changes or attacks on their industry of information services and, as a result, not keepign up with internal and external changes in the industry. Need a dose of newew management that cares about changing with the times.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to do the actual job of a sales rep for a week in terms of barriers internally to sales and you will understand how bad that needs to be fixed. Do more to fix employee salary problems for employees to increase retention.

Pros

work life balance is extremely good in my area anyway, my managers are very approachable, the company is relatively well resourced.

Cons

hard to get anything done, some of the people in my area are quite cliquey and hard to get to know, I'm on a maternity contract and there is therefore little job security. I also don't really know if the job is as challenging or as interesting as initially "sold" in the interview.

Advice to Senior Management

I'm quite happy with the way things are run by management. Most of the managers I have worked with are quite approachable and easygoing, although I do find it hard to get clear, consistent answers at times.