An Unpleasant Place to Work - Anonymous employee Kimberly-Clark Employee Review

1.0
19 Sept 2009
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Generic, median-level benefits. Nothing to brag about, but it's better than not having benefits at all. But nothing that you wouldn't expect to receive at any large corporation.

Cons

First, the longstanding negatives about the company culture: 1. Excessive risk aversion and maladaptive reactions to failure. Upper management plays it ultra-cautiously and has missed many business opportunities over the years. Now we have a boatload of creaky brands with products that are becoming commoditized. (if they're not already.) If you're an employee and you take a risk -- and things don't work out -- you get hammered. So why stick your neck out to help the company? Don't rock the boat if you want to keep your job. 2. Vacillating upper management. Regarding company strategy and tactics, first it's one thing and then another. And then it's back to the first thing again. Employees are forever "re-looping" as priorities change haphazardly. Much good work is placed on the shelf only to be revived at a later time. Then other employees retrace the steps of their peers. And the cycle repeats itself, endlessly. Now for the negatives that have arrived more recently: 1. An oppressive, punitive employee evaluation system. K-C is in the fifth year of an "employee forced ranking" system, with set percentages mandated for each of various grade levels. That includes surprisingly high percentages for the lowest "you're in trouble" grades. But what if no one in a particular peer group has truly performed poorly? When there are no fair and proper reasons to skewer someone, and someone must be skewered, you have a recipe for unfair treatment. The reader is free to imagine the machinations and political maneuverings that occur under this system. And if you can imagine it, it probably has happened. Then there are the many "leadership qualities" that employees are expected to demonstrate. The problem is that everyone is supposed to demonstrate all of them, all the time. It doesn't leave much room for individuality, and when you combine it with the historical "don't rock the boat" culture, it amounts to employees being treated like school children. With smarmy teachers constantly on your back. Now kids, don't forget to be visionary, act collaboratively, look both ways before crossing the street, tuck in your shirts, and never ever do anything that I wouldn't do... etc. etc. 2. Process madness. There isn't a problem within K-C that a new process can't resolve. Or so upper management would have you believe. There are official, proscribed ways of doing nearly everything, including altering the processes. It doesn't matter if it's a highly regulated area or not; this company thinks that process is where it's at. Working there is like donning a straight jacket. The freedom to use your personal judgment is being progressively limited. Some standardization is advantageous, of course, but K-C goes terribly overboard.

Explore other reviews about Kimberly-Clark

5.0
10 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Collaborative culture and friendly people - Most people have long tenures with KC, indicating employee satisfaction - People come at a normal time and leave at a normal time, which tells me they value work-life balance and thats the culture that gets passed on to young employees as well - A truly beautiful campus

Cons

Hard to grow in your role - there isn't a clear path to seniority

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Kimberly-Clark Response
3mo
Thank you for sharing your experience with us! We’re glad to hear you enjoyed the collaborative culture, supportive colleagues, healthy work‑life balance, and our campus environment. We also appreciate your feedback around career growth and progression, and we’ll share this with our internal teams as we continue to improve the employee experience. Thank you again for your valuable feedback.
3.0
2 Jul 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Super flexible working hours, lot's of opportunity to work on lot's of different things.

Cons

Really isolated working experience, teams are extremely siloed and there's no communication across different projects.

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