Edelman reviews

Highly political. Atrocious on-boarding. Not respectful of those who come from outside big agency or outside Edelman -- skills notwithstanding, it's more about the "process" there. Rewards come to those who follow the rules (if you can figure out what they are) and make the right friends in high places, not necessarily those who are most skilled. During my tenure, VERY volatile leadership environment - massive turnover, lack of quality hands-on management for senior level talent. Nearly impossible to find quality mentoring -- everyone is too busy and agency doesn't value it, so it's not a priority. Reputation as a "best place to work" is, to me, laughable. Lots of lip service to the culture - but not a healthy work environment. Little to no socialization with colleagues -- competitive and highly political. Tendency to rest on laurels and not push the envelope with truly creative work. Effort to become more "full service" has them poaching talent from ad agencies - but "creatives" used to ad agency model don't work well with PR account teams...lack of respect between the two disciplines creates tension.

Unfortunately, there are many many cons. When I first joined Edelman, I heard there were some semi-consistent layoffs, but I didn't totally understand how prevalent and divisive they were. I would advise any colleague, friend, or stranger to stay away at all costs. -It is a highly political environment, all of which are internal politics. -There are pockets of senior leadership and client leads who are awful. In efforts to get support from other senior leaders, I was shamed and told to work on myself/that I was the problem. -Those who play the politics best will get promoted, not those who do great work. -They will lay you off at the drop of a hat, blaming employees for their improper business practices and poor financial management. -The layoff process is so incredibly unprofessional. While I expect it to be a rehearsed script, I was floored by how unprepared the senior leader was on my call, frequently stuttering and using slang. It's my job and livelihood, please practice before.