Pros
This review is for the Consumer Products division of GP. Pros: 1. Market Based Management (MBM) in it's essence is an outstanding management philosophy, and the problem solving tools are great. Learning MBM was the best part of my time at GP; I use it every day in some way. 2. The location of my position with GP was a plus; the company headquarters is in downtown Atlanta. (This is one of the reasons I stayed) 3. Depending on the department, there was general flexibility to work from home from time to time. 4. Salaries are a lot less than other consumer packaged goods companies, but has a good 401K plan. I stayed long enough for mine to vest and then left.
Cons
For those with exposure to other CPG companies, GP will probably be several beneath what is considered best in class in the CPG industry. It is an arrogant, controlling, manipulative cult-like culture and the company seems to not care at all about it's employees or their working environment. Being at GP felt like stepping back into the 1970s. From the decor of the office (masking tape colored paint & cubicles, severely worn carpet with holes and stains all through out, etc.) to the attitudes of people. Leaders did not have patience with freedom of thought. As a manager I couldn't buy a simple book for my team's development and give it to them without HR first reviewing the book to make sure it lined up with MBM. Cronyism abounded and people who were more senior levels Senior Dir./VP level would assign their friends to positions without posting positions or even when the freind had no applicable experience. This was all done without any accountability by HR or SVP level simply by twisting MBM principles to justify the choice. In fact, leaders would often twist MBM and use it to manipulate or justify dysfunctional behavior, yet their managers were not holding them accountable for MBM. Sadly, I noticed that those who had spent their career with GP have no idea how horrible the environment is there. Also, unlike other CPG companies, there seemed to be no desire at GP consumer products to strive to be number one (or do signifcantly better in the industry). There were issues happened year after year that eroded customer relationships and tarnished GPs reputation, but the departments causing the issues were not required to fix them. Also GP consumer products seemed to never have enough of what they needed to meet business requirements (customer demand), so it was a constant shell game which made every work week issue-filled with execution. GP did not have simple, routine standard operating procedures across the company (which in this day and age is absolutely ridiculous).