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      Real Chemistry

      Engaged Employer

      Real Chemistry reviews

      3.2

      38% would recommend to a friend

      (600 total reviews)
      avatar

      Shankar Narayanan

      34% approve of CEO

      40% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      3.4

      Compensation and benefits

      3.1

      Career opportunities

      3.0

      Diversity & inclusion

      2.8

      Culture & values

      2.7

      Senior management

      2.4

      Work/Life balance

      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).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      600 reviews
      1.0
      May 2, 2014

      Such a Joke Agency - Real PR Pros Should NOT Apply

      Director
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      If you're mid to senior level in your career and you're ready to take on a position where you're the smartest person in the room, this is definitely the agency for you. W2O Group, WCG, and Twist also have a great "work from wherever you please" policy. There are a great number of associates who work remotely or do half work weeks in office and the other half at home - they're senior level, of course, which means junior staff is very poorly monitored or managed. Compensation is also decent...always negotiate...you'll get more if you ask for it and if they see as a potential asset.

      Cons

      - The people here are not strategic and they are not smart. They have smartly chosen an agency where they are not required to produce great results for clients as long as they fake the appearance of busy thought leaders. Caution: If you have a strong PR agency background, you will be frustrated daily by this. - Structurally, W20 Group, WCG, and Twist are young, fast-growing companies (a plus), however, that also comes with growing pains. The structure doesn't exist and they are all too top heavy. - Not enough junior staff which means that junior staff is always overloaded with work. At times, most of this work is just the busy work that someone else didn't want to do. Trying to learn a new skill or develop your career at W2O Group? Honestly, this isn't the agency for that. - Internal communication sucks. People frequently leave and are let go without so much as an email. Oftentimes, the people that are let go lead big pieces of business and this further cripples the more junior staff. - Turnover is very high. People, on average, last a year and it's usually the more intelligent employees that depart for better agencies. Unfortunately, the same non strategic people are the ones that stay and will probably continue to stay. - No maternity leave. Personally, I came from an agency with a lot of leeway here and was thankful for that after my first son was born. Now, my husband and I are literally waiting to have our second until I can make a move. - Join W20 Group, WCG, and Twist with a lot of caution. They are a waste of time agency. - HR is also a joke. They can't help you but it's not their fault. Certain skills just aren't valued here and HR is definitely one of them. This can be seen by the recent "departure" of the NY Head of HR. Another "departure" that wasn't adequately communicated. They are looking to hire a HR Manager as a sub-par replacement. Good luck to that individual! - The meme product is almost a bigger joke than the actual agency. Constantly, my clients question how it is even useful and there is nothing being done to fix it or make it a better offering.

      avatar
      Real Chemistry Response
      12y
      We strive to be a company that is both agile and innovative as our offerings and team continue to grow at a rapid rate. We are continuing to hire staff at all levels to ensure our employees can work as a balanced team, equipped with the tools needed to be successful. Your feedback about the maternity leave policy has been received by leadership and a more enhanced policy will be implemented this year. We strongly encourage you to bring your frustrations forward to management and HR so we can take steps to help alleviate some of these pain points you have personally experienced.
      5.0
      Mar 31, 2014

      Great place to work, if you can keep up

      Director
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Smart, ambitious people that don't really fit the traditional agency mold; the company is privately owned, so it makes investments in people and infrastructure ahead of the curve; single P&L decreases the amount of political crap you'll see at other, similarly sized agencies; the agency has a handful of truly differentiated content and analytics offerings that help W2O stand apart from competitors

      Cons

      There is a lot of pressure to "be different" from every other agency and think 2-3 years ahead of the market. That coupled with what management calls "the inverted pyramid" of seniority at W2O can lead to extremely long hours as you climb the ladder here. Good news is that people are recognized for their contributions, both internally and by clients. But, it's not the right place for everyone.

      avatar
      Real Chemistry Response
      12y
      Thank you for your feedback. We agree with you- our company culture prides itself on pragmatically disrupting the status quo. With loyal and dedicated team members like you, we have been able to position ourselves as a leader in the industry delivering world-class offerings. To your point, we have run into some pain points within the infrastructure, due to our growth, but have since started to fill those gaps and implement programs such as W2O University and The Hallway. We appreciate your comments and ask that you continue to share your thoughts with your reports and our HR team.
      2.0
      Feb 19, 2014

      Big heads don't mean big brains

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Big name clients mean getting to work on some large-scale, fun and creative projects. Met some great people and made some good friends.

      Cons

      It often seemed frenetic, chaotic and toxic after it began to gain notoriety. Lots of attrition of some of the best talent at all levels. I also never understood how the company made money. Clients rarely paid on time (months without paying) and we often (as some agencies do), cut pricing on services or wrote off our time in order to keep a client. This is an okay practice with limits. If the client continues to abuse this working dynamic, then you have a problem, and I rarely saw a client appreciate all the hard work for less pay and then invest in our work more. Typically, clients get used to this dynamic and lock you into it. "Why buy the cow when you can milk it through the fence for free." I also don't know if leadership was simply unaware, or aloof or too mixed up in their own egos to invest in managing mid-to-entry level employees, but there was absolutely no management plan or thought of how to encourage promotion. Perhaps it was just simply that they didn't want to spend the time to do it. Lastly, it often seemed that all the hard work was done at the entry-to-mid management level (people in their 20s were often pressured to give up 90% of their weekends for poorly managed or last minute projects), while the top management traveled a lot for business meetings, during which they did not scrimp on hotels or dining - even when there was financial strain. The culture was, and I hear still is, extremely lop-sided.

      avatar
      Real Chemistry Response
      12y
      We appreciate your feedback. It’s great to hear that you enjoyed the team you worked with and the projects you were given. We are a fast paced, high performance culture that we recognize can seem chaotic at times but that chaos translates into a focused passion for our clients. Your comments have been directed to leadership.
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