GlobalData reviews

3.2

45% would recommend to a friend

(2,229 total reviews)
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Mike Danson

57% approve of CEO

50% positive business outlook

GlobalData has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 2,229 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The GlobalData employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management & Consulting industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
1.0
Oct 2, 2018

What a horrible place to work

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good work life balance. Not much pressure. Never work weekends. Hardly ever stay beyond 6pm.

Cons

-No benefits. Not a single thing. - We don't even have tea/coffee provided for staff. Just tap water. Shows how much they value employees. -Very poor salaries. No pay rise in 4 years. -No bonuses every paid out. Yes that is correct NEVER -No training. As in no training at all. -No policy on promotions. Let me make that clear. There is absolutely no policy on promotions. Each and every one has to be personally reviewed by Mike Danson. When was the last time you heard of a large company having the CEO review and approve each promotion. -This is a sales focused company. Don't be fooled by the name. There are hundreds of awards for sales but virtually nothing for analysts. -Horrible, shady and weak methodology. Don't fall for the claim that research integrity is highly valued. If only clients know how much lies and crap we put into our data. - Massive redundancies and a hiring freeze in many departments. Lots of people leaving and not being replaced. - Absolutely no strategic direction. Mike has bought all of these companies with no strategic clue how to integrate them all effectively. We have just recently been rebranded as GlobalData but beyond this superficial change of name and new colours, it is a very silo organisation with each team working independently. - This is not a publicly listed organisation with international office. It is run with a very tight grip by Mike Danson. It is his personal business and he is the only one that matters. He micromanages everything. Runs it like a personal business. My theory is the Mike Danson is slashing costs (e.g. hiring freeze), pushing sales staff to the max in a pure standard PE model to make the company appear extremely profitable and eventually sell it off. Lower your cost base, push sales, boost company margins making it very lucrative to buyers.

2.0
Aug 31, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You can get your foot in the door

Cons

GlobalData's motto should be 'the bare minimum' - ironic seeing as one of their aspirations is to become a world-class company. Pay is well below industry average, with no meaningful benefits and a miserable legal minimum holiday entitlement and even sick pay. The building itself has had a few minor renovations, but is extremely soulless, and much of the equipment is falling apart. Even stationery is hard to come by. The culture at GlobalData leaves much to be desired. Junior staff are hired and fired (or many have the good sense to leave) every 6 months, in a never-ending cycle which the company never learns from. In the London office, you need a special pass to even access the 8th floor where the CEO and senior management work, which sums up the company's attitude and antiquated hierarchical system. In sales, senior management will sell you a wolf of wall street dream about 6 figure commission, and trips on the CEO's yacht, and use this as an excuse to treat you like dirt. Unfortunately, it's well known throughout the business that Sales is one big boys' club, which often includes racist, sexist and homophobic language and behaviour. This is not challenged by management, and even encouraged as 'banter'. Reports of this behaviour as well as allegations of drug-taking on the sales floor have reached the ears of HR numerous times. They turn a blind eye, pay lip service to the issue, and back management every time. Previous glassdoor reviews can attest to this being true, which the company scramble to try and get taken down. As for the CEO, he is clearly an intelligent and resourceful man. However, his downfall will be his lack of appreciation for investing in his employees at a human level. For a self-made billionaire he is very stingey when it comes to anything that does not have a quantifiable monetary return. Those not in sales or quantifiably bringing in money for the company are treated like second class citizens. The GlobalData analysts are the backbone of the company, and should be treated like its greatest asset. However they are chronically under-resourced, paid a pittance, and their repeated attempts to address issues about unsustainable workload fall on deaf ears. With the revolving door situation of joiners and leavers, resources are constantly wasted on training new starters, and the majority of the workload falls to an unfortunate few. Communication within the company is terrible, both central channels and between departments. The CEO has to personally review the most minor decisions, which creates bottle necks and long delays in workload. Communication channels are one-way, and employee feedback is only asked for when absolutely necessary, because even asking for feedback raises expectations that the company will take action (God forbid!) and have to spend money on anything above the bare minimum. It's true that not everyone has a bad experience at GlobalData, but only a select few who work their way up over a decade or more are able to reap the advertised rewards of going on the CEO's yacht etc. Training and development opportunities are hard to come by. Don't count on getting a payrise, promotion or even an annual appraisal at this company.

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GlobalData Response
4y
We are sorry that you did not have a good experience at GlobalData. We are proud of our Company and our people and work hard to create a culture that is both challenging, but rewarding and fun. The Company strongly denies allegations of sexism, racism and homophobic behaviour and does not tolerate discrimination. If any of our employees raised these issues we would always investigate them thoroughly and take any corrective action to the extent necessary. As an established Global Company, we are continuously reviewing our policies and approach to employee wellbeing, reward and benefits. Specifically over the last 12 months, we have been working to make key changes. All employee feedback is reviewed and where feasible, we look to adapt and make adjustments. We are an entrepreunerial company, with ambition and pace and despite our best efforts sadly not all ex-employees will agree with Company policy and direction. It is inevitable that we will receive some negative feedback however we also get a lot of positive feedback, both through GlassDoor and our other internal communication channels. For example a recent long term member of one of our Analyst Teams said: ‘I have been allowed to build a team and are pleased that I work with experienced, professional and credible people, and I really enjoy my GlobalData experience’.
1.0
Nov 26, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good incentives and commission if you work in sales

Cons

Where do I begin! -Micromanagement -No flexibility -Poor basic pay with no very very basic benefits (sales get commission but everyone else is on a very poor salary with no pay rise ever) -No real career progression -Bullying culture (If you are one of the top sales people you can get away with practically anything. That includes blatant racist, homophobic or misogynistic comments or actions. Management will just ignore it. ESPECIALLY IN HEALTHCARE!!!) -Childish and laddish working environment. Its like working in a 50's boiler room sales office. -Blatant misogyny!!! The men do not treat the women with respect. This behaviour is encouraged by management. -HR will always defend management. There is no-one to defend the employees. -Management on many occasions are the biggest bullies. -It is practically the same sales people who win the incentives every time -Very big drug culture -The moment you hand in your notice, you are dead to them. -Terrible office facilities, the place is falling apart. Do not be fooled by the lobby or 8th floor. If I could have give GlobalData zero stars, I would have. Very unhealthy working environment.

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Glassdoor has 2,305 GlobalData reviews submitted anonymously by GlobalData employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if GlobalData is right for you.