Company gives clients good advice, but can't follow its own advice in managing employees - Anonymous employee Edelman Employee Review

3.0
23 Oct 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- name brand clients - quick learning - stretch opportunities

Cons

- Expectations for roles and therefore promotions are unclear. The amount of work and level of commitment varies by group. Even within a group, expectations are still unclear and uneven. - The company celebrates women in leadership, but it actually missed a goal it set for itself originally. 42 percent of women in leadership isn't impressive when the company is built on the backs of an employee base that's 72% female. You don't have a pipeline problem, you have a desertion problem. - The maternity leave policy improved, but is still largely considered a disability.

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Edelman Response
8y
"Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. Many of your observations are astute and I'm not going to spin the fact that there are currently areas of improvement in the employee experience. While I'd argue that these challenges exist almost everywhere and we're in the advantageous position to have HR and leadership teams that genuinely care about these topics, your comments won't be overlooked. Career pathing, diversity & inclusion, learning & development and performance management have been major global priorities for some time and we've made a number of improvements, but we're also focusing on putting more rigor around then this year - I only wish you were still here to help our efforts! If you have any specific ideas, I'd love to hear them. I do want to address one point and that's our efforts to increase female representation in leadership. In five years, we increased the proportion of our senior most female leaders by 27%, which I consider a huge accomplishment. We didn't meet our 50% goal, you're right on that, but it's humbling and motivating for the future. I'm happy to be a part of this important and continued movement. Maria O'Keeffe, Executive Director, US HR"

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