Avoid - delusional agency - Director Monks Employee Review

1.0
Jun 29, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Free snacks, some talented people.

Cons

If you’re from an integrated advertising agency background DO NOT join this agency. Nothing is done properly. Zero leadership accountability. Leadership: Cliquey. Inexperienced and in denial. Promote their friends in to senior positions who have no idea how to run accounts or manage clients. Pat themselves on the back for the bare minimum. Micromanagement of talented employees who are more experienced. But then raise the voices of junior employees who have hardly any experience in the industry, to maintain the status quo. Operations: A tale of two extremes. There’s either no process at all, or they use off the shelf platform tools for simple tasks to apparently “create process” but then there are too many tools, people don’t really know how to use them or they are only half used and they are not integrated - creating a TON of admin. Meanwhile you need to download an app just to go to the bathroom. “Project leads” breath hot air about creating processes and then when their own process fails them they blame account teams. Account teams: Junior people promoted or recruited prematurely and then don’t know how to lead clients at a senior level. Lots of scope creep and no commercial understanding. Strategy: Senior leadership don’t understand what strategy is, they don’t engage with it and so don’t know how to educate clients on it. Scary. So they just keep burning resource they don’t have in producing loads of assets with zero direction for what it’s actually achieving. Creative: hardly any real creative work is being done. The creativity level is from about 15 years ago. Production: if they were once great at production agency (which was where they started out) they’ve added too many separate capabilities too fast in recent years and have now become a jack of all trades and master of none. Selling capabilities to each other internally. It’s a revolving door of burnt out producers and PMs who leave shortly after joining as they discover the horror. Finance: No paper trails, no integrated finance systems. Only God knows how this company is audited. Finance juniors do the best with the little tools they have. Never met the finance director once. Says a lot and not very much at the same time. Minimal - zero profits being made

Explore other reviews about Monks

5.0
Jun 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's been such a pleasure, joy and fresh air to work here. I'm respected, as is my work life balance.

Cons

Leadership hasn't always been consistent with their words and actions, making it feel scary and tumultuous at times.

2.0
Jun 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay. Started as a solid brand with talented coworkers.

Cons

No real upward mobility or promotion opportunity. Higher-level senior management is disconnected from creative leadership and tends to gamble a bit too much with client relationships. Agency promises a lot of benefits and growth opportunities for employees that do not come to fruition. When budgets get tight, they cut creative teams regardless of whether the account and employee have been performing well for the agency.

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