Pros
People are wonderful, smart, hard working, and fun to work with. The culture is embraced and advanced in a way I haven't seen at any company. Entrepreneurialism is encouraged and expected. Private company and long-term focus means no end-of-period sales nonsense.
Cons
Base Comp: First, understand "A" performers are the top 15%. A's are sometimes very deserving of promotion and raises when the philosophy is applied correctly, but just as often it is a result of favoritism. It is easy to spot the A's because they are in the cafeteria at 7am meeting with senior leaders over coffee and walking out the building with them at 7pm. 80% of employees are considered "B" performers (the remaining 5% being those employees who are actually destroying value and should be managed out). At the managerial/director level, B's don't get raises more often than every 3-5 years, sometimes longer. If a B takes on more responsibility they give it 6 months to see if he or she will actually create "incremental value" before considering a raise in base pay. "We pay for results, not potential" is the explanation. Variable comp is called "I-comp" and the eligibility and amounts are extremely subjective. Amounts are determined by "a pool that isn't a pool", and even a high performer's I-comp can dwindle when the business unit is suffering from things like a failing project (such as a capital investment in paper machines that doesn't deliver), profit loss because of an over-capacity market, or a mysterious tax adjustment. The nature and execution of I-comp encourages short-term thinking. Long-term variable pay is called "PUPS" and is shrouded in mystery and confusion. I got three different explanations of how PUPS work from leadership, HR, and the MBM capability all in the same day. PUPS were used as a recruitment tool for me to make up for the loss of options and RSU's I received as long-term variable comp from the public company I left to join GP. My eligibility was taken away because of a "bad year for the division".