Real Chemistry reviews

3.2

38% would recommend to a friend

(600 total reviews)
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Shankar Narayanan

34% approve of CEO

40% positive business outlook

Real Chemistry has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 600 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Real Chemistry employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media & Communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

600 reviews
3.0
Oct 27, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-RC has a really diverse mix of available accounts and clients to work with, which is great exposure to different disciplines, disease areas and topics. -RC has the most integrated teams in the biz - between social, influencer, paid media, earned media, etc., no other agency can compete with RC's offerings and capabilities and how ready available these resources are to account people and clients. -If you want your whole life and identity to be comms work, RC is a great fit for you! You'll find mentorship and a TON of opportunities for growth. That said, don't expect it to be easy.

Cons

-The culture is toxic. Long hours (7am-1am) are expected regularly and team leaders basically look at your salary as purchasing your entire life. Leaders do not honor weekends, holiday time, evenings, etc. Expect to be burnt out and worked to exhaustion. -Team leads are allowed to literally do and say whatever they want without consequence, so long as they are well-liked by management. I witnessed name calling, gossiping, straight up YELLING on calls, making fun of interns and more. I've worked with people who have sat and openly cried at their desks while working as a result. -Feedback was inappropriate and sometimes sexist. I often received feedback that wasn't work-related at all and was focused on my personality. Feedback was VERY targeted at subjective based on how well-liked you were (regardless of performance). -Anyone who stands up and calls out any of the above is placed on a "Performance Improvement Plan," is forced to resign or is fired. The best way to get ahead at RC and get promoted is to shut up and take it, and just keep on working.

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Real Chemistry Response
4y
Thank you for your detailed feedback – while we are proud of the teams, services, and capabilities we have created, our integrated approach cannot work without our people. While the work is demanding, long hours should not be an everyday occurrence and something we are addressing. Some teams have implemented no meetings on Friday afternoons to allow time to catch up on your work before heading out for the weekend. We believe all of us can work smarter not harder, and personal time is personal time. I’m saddened to hear that wasn’t your experience. We also believe there are right and wrong ways to lead a team, and the behaviors cited are most definitely not in line with what we value at Real Chemistry. People should feel secure in speaking up and sharing feedback, and we need to do better in training leaders at all levels on how to foster a culture of openness. Therefore, I appreciate your comments as we continue to strive for continuous improvement when it comes to our culture and leadership. Stephanie Garcia, Chief People Officer
1.0
Jul 27, 2020

Get as much as you can while you are there.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great opportunity to work on big accounts to get on your reel.

Cons

Bad communication between departments. Especially bad in light of the need to work remotely. I was totally burned by this experience and feel betrayed by the total lack of support by fellow creative managers.

1.0
Oct 29, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Decent pay (at least for my position) - Week in December off for all employees - Snacks - Happy Hours (which was great to get free drinks after being stressed out and over worked at the job) - After 5 years you get paid sabbatical for 5 weeks. Some of the people I have worked with in the company were (and still are) great employees and people. I was very fortunate to have worked with them. I was able to use my other skills outside of my job description for other areas in the company.

Cons

* High turnover rates * Nepotism and office politics * Management does not listen to employees concerns and find proper solutions to those concerns * Management cannot take constructive criticism * Toxic environment/toxic people working at the company * Cliquey culture, must suck up to managers if you want to get ahead * Expensive health insurance and does not offer transit reimbursement/discount * Terrible work life balance They have an extremely high turnover rate but say, “it’s normal in the industry they work in”. I am pretty sure if they treated their employees better and offer better benefits that rate would go down significantly. Also, have been in meetings where they "suggest" to employees to write good things about them on glassdoor to get better ratings. If you have an issue regarding your work load or a higher-up in the company and you bring it to your manager’s attention, some managers, will complain about you bringing the issue up to them and blame you for the reason why you have the problem. Most managers there CANNOT GIVE OR TAKE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. If you give them critiques on how they should improve their leadership skills or bring up the issue to HR, they will find ways to retaliate against you. Some higher-ups there are not professional AT ALL and should not be holding their positions at W2O. I have seen a higher-up yell and swear at other people over things that were not a big deal. Be sure to make sure to do everything right on your first day because depending on your manager you be yelled at like I was over something that was not a huge issue on my second day there. If you go to HR regarding an issue about a higher up, your concern will go unheard and unaddressed. The environment is extremely toxic, some managers will tear down their employees rather than build them up and do not listen to them. It’s a shame because I’ve seen many talented people leave because of that. They offer different benefits depending on your position there, which is unfair. For example, everyone is able work home 1 day out of the week, unless you worked in a certain position. My current employer offers the same benefits to ALL full-time employees. W2O tells employees if they want to "grow" or to learn a new skillset they can watch YouTube videos instead of offering some kind tuition reimbursement and give the employee the assistance in receiving a degree or certificate. Having an employee certified in a skill can be great asset for the company. Work life balance for employees is terrible, have seen people in the office before 7 AM, after 9 PM, and on the weekends working well over 10 hours a day. Some barely have enough time to eat lunch! Hire more people so your employees can have a life outside of work! Studies have shown employees work more effectively when they are able to get some rest from work.

Viewing 28 - 30 of 600 Reviews

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