Heaven or Hell: LM personality will define
Pros
A great marketing school with a strong entrepreneurial approach—if you're eager enough, you’ll get to know everything about the business. There’s approachability, tons of resources to learn and grow, and access to extensive category data & insights. People here share common values with the company, making it easy to find great colleagues who align with your interests. It’s also easy to move between departments and gain new experience and expertise, even without previous work experience in the field
Cons
Your experience here depends entirely on your line manager—it can be heaven or hell. A lot of power is given to them. If you're lucky and have a mature, values-driven LM, things will work out for you, even with some underperformance. But if you're unlucky and your LM is a bad leader, it’s better to find a new job or transfer to another department, even if you’re performing well. Your career path depends entirely on your LM’s approval. There’s no real protection for associates—LM2 doesn’t care, simply listens to LM1, and they often play favorites. Unfortunately, HR and the Ombudsman program don’t work as intended; they mostly protect the company from legal risks. After multiple transformations, there aren’t enough people to do the actual work. Associates are drowning in piles of unnecessary tasks that could easily be eliminated. There’s too much micromanagement due to poor leadership development and a lack of courage to stand up for what matters. Expertise is declining with the new generation of newcomers, and it’s now much easier to get hired than it was in the past.
