Monocle Reviews

If you're not in London you're treated as a b-team. London office clearly had a toxic environment (at least at the time) -- the number of times I watched back-and-forth passive-aggressive fights unfold over email by London team members is laughable. Yes, what people say is true: it is cultish around the CEO within the company, and those at the top are 100% yes-men/women to the CEO. What Mr Brule says, goes. Undisputed. Everyone is always on edge to please "Tyler", "What Will Tyler Think?" is asked on just about every topic from (of course) the print magazine and online articles, all the way to layout of retail, office plant arrangements, "mess" (pencils, pens, cables) on desks, the types of cups stocked in the pantry...Tyler has an *incredibly* keen eye, so when he turns it towards you/your office/your team/your work everyone gets buttoned up really quickly. Having worked in fashion, retail, and marketing at similar-sized companies, I've seen SO many CEO's with a similar aura and yes-men/women circles though -- so to be honest, I'm on the side that it kind of comes with the territory. If you're not expecting it you'll be in for a *shock*, if you are expecting it you should be able to weather it.

I felt compelled to write this review when I heard that rather than listening to staff feedback and addressing concerns, senior management felt that the best way to improve the dismal Glassdoor rating from former employees was to pressurise current employees into leaving 5-star reviews on here. Therefore I advise taking any glowing reviews on the site with a large pinch of salt. Ironically for a company that has published books on how to run a good business, its attitude to office life is antiquated and problematic. Hybrid or remote working doesn't exist at Monocle: all employees are expected to be in the (admittedly lovely) offices 5 days a week without fail – it has been known for senior management to check who is missing from their desks and demand explanations. The team is generally brilliant, but sadly so many people have recently left due to toxic senior management and questionable company values - in my time at Monocle I encountered racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism and complete disregard for environmental issues from the CEO and senior management. Rather than listening to employees and addressing concerns, feedback is disregarded and there is extreme favouritism within the company - you are either "in the club" or not. I gained plenty of valuable experience at Monocle and met some amazing people, but if the company doesn't change its attitude I am pretty sure it will find itself on the wrong side of history.