Pros
Edelman is a best in class global brand - the number one PR agency in the world. We have clients from all walks of life, be it MNCs or smaller homegrown brands, with the scale and depth of global, regional or local work. The breadth of expertise is continually evolving beyond bread and butter media relations and traditional PR, diversifying our offering. The handful of tenured loyalists continually strive to inspire a newer generation of hires, and exercise a fair but firm hand when it comes to managing people. A recently refreshed leadership team has more hits than misses. There are visible attempts by the management team to alleviate what is an industry-wide issue such as long working hours and hiring behind the curve. However, results of these attempts have yet to be seen.
Kontras
While we are we global agency, we behave like a start up with no funding. Tools and processes necessary to our trade that would aid efficiency and enhance our expertise are ignored or are left in negotiation phases for long periods of time due to budgetary concerns. However, these budgetary concerns are not reflected at the extravagant and sometimes unnecessary office parties or the show-and-tell efforts when global leadership is in town. The archaic financial system leaves little to be desired, with a finance team that is understaffed, overworked and unappreciated. Expenses incurred on behalf of the firm are paid out in two month intervals, and third party partners have gone for months after work is completed without receiving payment. We hired a team of creative and digital experts in an attempt to move the firm forward beyond just the PR space and into an integrated marketing offering. Yet, these resources are not shared across the office and when support from these teams are required, it always boils down to dollars and cents and which client team has the biggest bargaining chip. With over a 100 people in the firm, it is up to the management team to exercise discretion and to weigh each decision with fair and unbiased judgement. This has not been the case. It is increasingly prevalent that management has been blinded by hearsay, perceptions that are fueled by gossip and quick judgements, leading to favouritism for some and direct exclusion from the system for others. The lack of a HR lead and a department which is meant to oversee employee welfare is evident in the long and late working hours of all in the firm, with even interns working past midnight to complete deadlines as it is more cost effective. The existing HR lead doubles up as the CFO for the sub-region, an obvious but often ignored direct conflict for all employees. Remuneration of consultants, especially at entry-level, have not changed in the last 5 years, and is once again behind industry standards.