Pros
Work/Life Balance - ...Even for some of the creatives. People - Brilliant, creative, fun people who, even if they aren't engaged by their daily work, have fascinating interests and side hustles. If you're on a happier, healthier team, you'll probably want to be best friends with your colleagues. Clients - If your book doesn't matter, you can definitely boast about working on some of the most high profile clients in the world. On the other hand, clients and agency tend to be conservative and old fashioned -- we're not putting out the most innovative work by a long shot. Perks - Summer days, a wonderful private gym, gorgeous offices with stunning views, solid health insurance, lots of catered meals, insane parties, PTO for volunteering. Pro Bono - Great pro bono opportunities... if you can find your way to them through the organizational mess. LBU - Leo Burnett University has some great professional development opportunities. I took a public speaking and presentation class that literally changed my life.
Cons
Bureaucratic Disaster - The organization is so beyond bloated that it's impossible to change clients, pivot roles, or grow immensely in any respect, which leads me to... Talent - Almost no chance to grow one's career by staying in the agency. Between the worst talent management (talent manager for strategy, I'm looking at you) I've ever encountered, near constant hiring freezes, and insane organizational politics, getting a promotion or raise is almost unheard of. You really have to advocate for yourself and have strong allies in this organization... and, if you do push for what you want, you'll make enemies. The people who should support your career development - managers, functional team heads - rarely do. Holding Company Relationship - ...Makes also zero sense. As far as I can tell, having to pass everything through Paris merely slows already frustratingly long internal processes. Holding company doesn't do much to foster unity and collaboration across partner agencies and competencies either. Lack of Vision - Especially with the heavily shifting leadership of late. North America and Chicago leadership parades out a new set of buzzwords and hash tags every few years to guide and inspire the organization, but they don't get disseminated to the people who execute. LB does not walk its talk. Rogue Regional Offices - The lack of a vision and mission coming from HQ filters down to regional and international level, which is deeply dysfunctional, disorganized, and the opposite of buttoned-up. Out of Touch Leadership - Management -- on client team and functional levels -- is rarely aware of the pain points of those in the trenches. When entry and mid level employees approach management to try to make changes and improve processes, they're frequently lashed out at as the source of these issues or downright disregarded. High Turnover - I mean, it's an agency. 'Nuff said. And there's no way to get ahead by staying there. Misleading Perks - Reading about organizational initiatives (global mobility, volunteer work, employee orgs, training opportunities, etc.) it's easy to get excited about LB. In actuality, getting to take advantage of these perks is a lot harder than it should be and many rarely come to fruition for any employees. Oh, and the Chicago office has the world's worst coffee.