Nice people, poor leadership - Principal Research Scientist Elanco Employee Review

2.0
Oct 9, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really nice people, made a lot of friends there, and lots of autonomy. A good place to develop as a scientist. Access to information is fairy open and you can forge your own path there if you want. Elanco actually does a very good job at manufacturing products, probably the best run part of the business.

Cons

Senior leadership needs complete overhaul. When asked, "what is it that Elanco can do better than anyone else", most employees would say "strategic acquisitions." But that's not the most important thing...developing and selling new products for animal health should be what Elanco is best at. Management is just adequate (at best), and to grow and improve, Elanco need excellent leadership and management. The poor management has led to multiple lay-offs, restructurings, re-orgs over the last 5 years, creating a huge amount of instability in the business and the lives of the people that work there.

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Elanco Response
5y
Thank you for taking the time to give your honest and thorough review.

Explore other reviews about Elanco

5.0
May 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Management listens to their emoloyees. Great benefits.

Cons

Old equipment. Lots of forced ot for hourly employees

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Elanco Response
1w
We appreciate your positive feedback regarding management and benefits. At Elanco, we are dedicated to the wellbeing of our employees and are always looking for opportunities for improvement - we thank you for your feedback!
2.0
Feb 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Plenty of great, passionate coworkers who work hard and collaborate. I had a lot of professional flexibility and my job was always interesting. Process teams on the manufacturing floor is a great system. Offsite resources, especially technical experts, are great.

Cons

Expect to be firefighting constantly and frequently fighting against an aging facility and outdated processes. No unified vision or clear prioritization from management. Misalignment between site leadership and upper/off-site management created sustained operational friction and stress for employees. Leadership turnover was frequent, contributing to ongoing instability. Because of all this, there was a super low morale and a feeling of widespread fatigue. Inconsistent communication and decision-making standards contributed to a low-trust culture, including regular informal discussion of colleagues and unprofessional and sometimes intimidating behavior in meetings. Performance feedback and perceived value were highly dependent on shifting leadership dynamics rather than consistent, objective criteria. Employees could move from being strongly supported to heavily criticized with little change in actual performance. Although a nine-box review process was supposedly used, individual outcomes were not transparently shared with employees. Onboarding and training for specialized roles were underdeveloped. Compensation was just fine for workload and scope of responsibility.

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