TOMS Reviews

Cons

Over time the culture and management team changed dramatically. The people hired came for big paychecks after TOMS was successful, they didn't come for the mission. In the end, it undercut the mission.

Cons

Poor management with unclear RACIs. Lack of upward mobility.

Cons

No longer an environment of collaboration and us (TOMS) doing whatever it takes to succeed and further the mission
Blindly making new hires ignoring existing talent
Slim to no upward mobility or career focus
Culture isn't what it used to be- people used to go out of their way to do things to together all the time- no assimilation efforts made for old, new, and newer hires to become a true team.
Annual reviews are biased and not democratic at all (even though that's what management wants you to believe)- you could work 90 hours a week doing 4 jobs and if they don't want to recognize that they will rate you poorly regardless of logic or reason

Cons

So if you've read through all the pros, you must be think to yourself, "Wow, how can this person only give 2 stars? Are the downsides really that bad?" That's for you to decide.

People - I know I just sang praises about all the amazing colleagues, and while that's true, there's also a fair share of either incompetent, apathetic, "I'm here to collect a paycheck," or any combination of these horrible characteristics that dilutes those that are trying to improve TOMS. Sure, I get there will always be entry to mid-level peeps that just don't care or know about contributing to the company to realize its full potential. But when you have this kind of riff-raff in the upper ranks like VPs and execs...set sail for fail. That's not to say there aren't any good leaders in management - of course there are. But all it takes are a few bad apples in key positions, making hasty or bad decisions because they don't know what's actually going on at the ground level and with a company of our relatively small size it's pretty easy to get up to speed on the details. The fact that these apathetic/incompetent leaders don't know who to tap into at TOMS to get the accurate data or info - that's a reflection of how out of touch they are with their teams or the goals of the company. Some of these "coasters" have since been ousted, but rest assured a good amount remain in the upper ranks.

Onto a related topic...the current state of the company. I don't know what I'm allowed to disclose, so I'll play it safe and keep it general - we've made several bad decisions in the past few years since the brand exploded; decisions that have wasted unfathomable amounts of resources - time, money, and effort. Decisions that have cost the company and are still haunting us to this day. Decisions that have forced the entire organization to lose focus and always be in constant state of chaos. Decisions that have led to missed opportunities to continue growing the brand. Just...bad decisions. And the worst thing? Besides the fact that it's self-inflicted, it is never ending - there's a difference between fast-paced (recruiter buzzword) and chaotic (reality at TOMS). What I mean by that: most of the major projects we work on - there's little to no planning...want to know what happens when you don't carefully plan out a big, cross-functional project? I'll tell you - missed deadlines and budget constraints, frustration, gaps ("Oh I thought YOU were going to do it"), and in general a lot of finger pointing which ultimately leads to low morale. It's gotten to the point that pretty much all the executors in projects expect them to go sideways or lose steam before we even have the project kick-off, which is sad. Then it's just a vicious cycle because we need to work on the next project and because someone neglected to be accountable and plan out the milestones with realistic targets - again, it flies off the rails. Rinse and repeat. So what this long-winded paragraph boils down to is no accountability at TOMS. I'm all for giving people second chances but if someone is running a project or brokering a deal that if it goes badly, could represent a huge miss in sales or cost us a ton of money - someone needs to be held responsible and take a demotion, be put on a PIP, or something. But no - that's not very "TOMSy" so we let these key decision-makers continue to make the same mistakes over and over.

You know what else isn't TOMSy? Staying in your lane and not overlapping, duplicating someone else's efforts, or creating redundancy. The problem is because the TOMS way is to let people come into their own with little to no guidance from a seasoned mentor, there ends up being 5 people trying to achieve the same result and doing it in 5 different ways without even knowing there were other people working on the exact same thing. And then letting people do important tasks that need to be reviewed/monitored because they have little experience in this area - I've lost count how many times I've seen poor execution because nobody was communicating or providing mentorship or asking for help. So what other companies call "exposure to a variety of disciplines" TOMS just really need to stop offering this and clearly define roles, or figure out how to better allow people to try out new things under supervision to ensure some semblance of quality is delivered. Also, this used to not be as much of a problem as it is now but there are too many cooks in the kitchen i.e. we're still too top heavy as an organizational hierarchy; decisions that should be quickly made so we can adapt take too long, and it creates this weird dynamic where it has to propogate through multiple unnecessary decision-makers and/or people who are basically pass-through (they provide no input or don't make decisions) so it's literally like you are setting up a meeting to tell someone something just so they can relay exactly what you said to someone else. But the person you told will probably misinterpret and there's all these translation issues where you are playing that game with cups connected with a string and when you hear back what the last person thought the first person said - it ends up being completely different!

Then all the other cool, fun things we used to do as a company to maintain our culture and the friendly vibes - happy hours, annual trips...those are all gone. Bonuses are pretty terrible since they're tied to company performance, and merit increases are meager. Yes, these cost money and we're clearly not in the same position we were in 5 years ago but in the interest of disclosure to candidates - aside from the business model, there are no real perks and we're beginning to just feel like another company getting corporatized by private equity swooping in to set us up for a sale event.

Cons

What has made me stay is that I’ve always looked up to the person I worked under, but as they have since left there is a gaping hole that is not being filled. There is no clear progression
for me in my career or for the direction of the brand in general. The TOMS story and heart has essentially been obliterated. You can feel the pressure that Bain, having acquired half the company, pushes to meet these sales goals. I know from speaking to many employees in different parts of the company that the culture is starting to lag and people are slowly burning out. The cycle of bringing in outside companies to try to reinvigorate the brand and failing to do so is tiresome and has not progressed in the years I’ve been here. Giving is at the heart for most employees, but I just don’t see that currently reflected in the brand. I expect more imminent layoffs and don’t see a clear future for TOMS.

Cons

There are clear favorites in every department or business segments. I've seen people get promoted every year or at least 1 promotion every two years. Others are overlooked, told they need to do more, but not given more work or opportunities to shine. So, basically how well can you manage up? How many meetings can you go to and show your face, put yourself out there, get known, build alliances with others so when they have their year end review, people say great things about you. The performance review is somewhat of a joke. I'm glad it is no longer discretionary and most of it is based on EBITDA. The company is running slim and there are still going to be some more layoffs. I still gave this company 3 stars because I for the most part enjoyed my time at TOMS. Every place is political, I just don't think you have to be an a%$ kisser to get ahead at ALL companies. Titles don't mean much just dictates your pay. A lot of top heavy positions, but not enough senior level employees to put in the hard work. Product is not that great, but they've put a lot of money on future seasons so maybe that will change. Lastly, at the end of the day, TOMS is a for profit business. They try to portray that they are contributing so much to help children, but they could easily just donate the money to those communities. People need food and water, paved roads, better infrastructure, not a pair of shoes which are the cheapest kind they purchase. It's the classic, give a man a fish, but don't teach him to be a fisherman. Change the give model to donate real resources and not shoes because it's 2017, A LOT of companies give back as part of their business model now!

Cons

HR has been tasked to get the glassdoor ratings up. Instead of actually fixing the issues, there are some posts that are not authentic. This should give you an idea of what it is like to work here. I am interviewing currently and hope to make my status be 'former employee' very soon.

Cons

TOMS has changed very dramatically this year. Most of the benefits like free employee shoes, cakes, giving trips, and other benefits are becoming a thing of a past. There are flexible hours and work from home for some employees but if your boss is not willing to work very hard you get to take the load while she/he is "working from home." It makes it more difficult to get the job done when people work remotely. They don't always respond to emails and have to work around their schedule. It creates more work for the rest.

Cons

Poor management. nepotism wins. Hard working people get burnt out and over looked.

Cons

Depending on how you look at it, some may struggle without a process or procedure around every component of their day. For those that want more of the same, this may not be the ideal company. For anyone searching for a way to utilize their business acumen while making a positive impact in the world, this is THE place to be.