Pros
*Decent pay
*Decent pension
*Good paternity leave policy
*Nice people (even where they aren't competent at their job, they are nice).
*Work from home (even if heavy presenteeism exists around hub-weeks)
Cons
Bullying culture in Petcare from the new change in Sales leadership. One person has completely transformed the culture for Petcare and it's become an awful environment to work in across the board. Almost every friend I have in Mars Pet is looking for work with directors, senior account managers and senior category managers having already left Mars Pet.
I outlined more - with examples - in my first review and Mars responded with a generic "you can reach out to our ombudsman" reply then 2 days later my review was removed because I "named someone", I didn't, I outlined the title of the person who has brought about a woeful change in company culture for PNUK. You can make your own mind up as to what happened there.
Let me recap my key points:
*Poor capability across the board - no access to category data beyond EPOS, no consumer insights, outdated category insights based on case studies from the early 2000s and when this is challenged we get "I don't have the data at hand but trust me" which is not sufficient for taking things externally.
*NPD is based on ideas plucked out of thin air vs consumer insight meaning a) it's rarely meaningful and b) it rarely works (and you end up in a continuous loop of paying a premium for space for things that don't sell on shelf which ends up fracturing customer relationships)
*Weak middle leadership (business unit directors) who accept & acknowledge the adverse impact of the change in leadership but won't do anything about it because being shouted at less often is priority #1 vs having a healthy workplace in the Sales function.
*Very internally focused with no respect for the customer (odd for a company who promotes 'mutuality'
*Lots of internal politicking - some people need to apply for promotions, others get a tap on the back, others need to interview but the hiring manager doesn't make the job 'open', so nobody else can apply and they can tick the "we interviewed for the role" box.
*Zero career progression. There are very few senior NAM roles in this business and every one we have has been filled externally or by 'top talent' from other functions as broadening assignments in sales meaning zero progression in sales.
Overall, we have principles on the wall that aren't reciprocal (between Mars and Employee) and it's a real shame.
