Pros
Great staffers who work really hard and deserve better. (The system is making me write twenty words in order to complete this section <— so there they are).
Cons
Where to begin...there is zero regard for anyone’s time during both on and the nearly non-existent off hours. The agency is poorly run with management who are stuck in the dark ages. Many hours are wasted on the phone on so-called “status calls” helping senior management understand basic concepts and program ideas that team members already spent time putting into emails that are never read. Team members are generally smart and competent, but are forced to work well above their level due to lack of adequate staffing. They are micro managed to the point where the president weighs in on run of the mill emails to clients on a regular basis. The micro managing also is part of the ongoing process because management is less than truthful when it comes to reporting financial information the the parent company (Fleishman Hillard) and the holding company (Omnicom). So, the president and MDs monitor what staff members say when working with anyone within the agency network. They also get angry when anyone attempts to avail themselves of the resources offered by the network (such as research and analytics, new business development tools, and media buying). Instead they tax untrained staff to handle everything themselves and basically learn on the job. The clients end up paying for unnecessary senior leadership time and for the additional time it takes junior staff to complete tasks that they are not trained to handle. This is the overall theme - inefficient and ineffective. The single perk offered is the ability for most staff to work remotely. This is a trap - do not fall for it. Working remotely means that the work starts as soon as you open your eyes in the morning and never ends because there is no commuting time to signal the end of a work day. When you do commute, you’re expected to be back online once you’re home. Staffers actually have to send calendar invitations to say they have a “hard stop” as late as 7 and 8pm to signal that they will not be online after that time. The new business development process is a complete nightmare. I was involved in three new business pitches and we stayed up all night - literally - with no sleep and then had to pitch to the client/potential client. At my first pitch which was out is town, when I arrived at the hotel, an executive assistant said, “I don’t know why I even booked you guys rooms because you won’t be using them.” She was correct because we spent the entire night right up until the morning presentation in a conference room. I had to make an excuse to go to my room so I could wash my face and put on makeup because my face had broken out in hives from the stress and utter shock. There’s so much more that I could say, but I haven’t got the time or energy. Please do yourself a favor and Run, don’t walk, from TogoRun.