Pros
When I joined Gallup, it was a great place to work. Employees were committed to working hard and delivering results for the company, and ultimately, their clients. Employees were compensated fairly through a pay for performance system that motivated employees to work hard, take on more work and get compensated accordingly. Additionally, as employees worked hard and long hours, the work environment was very flexible with the ability to work remotely, have flexible hours, and use “unlimited” vacation time as long as your work got done and did good work. Leaving Gallup in 2011, I don’t recognize the company I joined. The only “pros” that I can think of about the organization is the strong “Gallup” name brand that is synonymous with polling and survey research and all of the good people that Gallup is losing/will lose in the very near future.
Cons
--The CEO Jim Clifton sent out a cryptic message at the end of the day on a Friday indicating that the pay structure, jobs titles, and consulting model were going to change without any indication of a timeframe or what the impact of these changes would be. Over the course of 2010, Gallup did work to overhaul its consulting model (that is not defined yet even though management will claim that it is) in order to brand itself as an elite management consulting firm. Looking at the work and clients that Gallup has, it is still very much of a survey research company using proprietary suite of survey research products with little to no expertise in change management. --The changes that Jim Clifton alluded to pay cuts for a majority of employees and the implementation of an indecipherable bonus system. In early 2011 after paycuts were implemented, the CFO came out and announced that Gallup had achieved the best financial performance to date – which was done at the direct expense of the workers and a big blow to employee morale. For a consulting firm, Gallup’s pay is extremely low, and the benefits are terrible. It is very hard to increase your pay as raises and promotions will be difficult to achieve, even as a top performer. The bonus system is based on achieving “quadrants of excellence” and is indecipherable and according to senior management “no one should receive their full bonus even if they are a top performer.” --There is no work/life balance at Gallup – client-facing consultants are overworked and stretched too thin. Management expects employees to be available around the clock, even on “time-off.” The recent changes to the overall business strategy also brought about a change to “required working hours” of a minimum of 2300 hours per year with only 200 hours of paid time off that does not increase with tenure. No federal holidays are given off – you need to use some of your PTO to take this time off, which leaves you with very little vacation time. --Senior management lacks direction. Most of the top management is related to one another, and those that are allowed into the elite circle are those who do a good job of telling the inner circle what they want to hear. The organization is set up to favor “politicking” rather than promotions for doing good work or driving client impact. Young 20-somethings with little to no work experience, no management experience, and having achieved no business results are promoted to management – this level of middle management is not respected by employees. -- There is absolutely no formal performance management system. Additionally, there are few career growth and development opportunities available