Reality Doesn't Meet Reputation - Anonymous employee Genentech Employee Review

2.0
Sep 16, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Opportunities whether you want them or not, both in terms of role development and getting your work out there. - Occasionally interesting problems to solve. - People are really great. Supportive and knowledgeable, they are the part that I will miss the most.

Cons

- My work was plagiarized by another department (used in an external poster, with publications pending likely) and I never received an apology or even acknowledgement for it, despite bringing it up to Sr. Director level. - Severely undertitles its workers. Even within the Roche network, the work that I was doing would be Engineer work, rather than Research Associate. In most other companies, this would be somewhere around a Scientist level. - There's way too much variability in quality between people in certain essential, critical departments, such as Quality and Project Managers. This variability can make your project pleasurable or a living hell. Many members of a development team will not know what the other members do, so there will be a lot of assignment of work that is not within a specific purview. - Communication is always lacking, whether that means knowing how to, feeling like you're free to, or giving/receiving critique. It is just not there. - Offboarding process is nonexistent. I still don't know where my COBRA paperwork is. - Slow responding HR department that does not seem to actually read the questions you're asking. - Although it doesn't encourage it, poor work/life balance is not actively discouraged. Stop sending emails at 1 AM!

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Genentech Response
8y
Thank you for writing us a review. Integrity is a fundamental value that we take very seriously here. We appreciate your feedback and are committed to ensuring that employees at all levels speak up and share their views. Employees are encouraged to raise any specific concerns with their HR Business Partner to ensure they are promptly addressed. Thank you for sharing your review.

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DDA is operating with significant gaps. First, the foundational data infrastructure is not mature enough to support the ambitions being set for the team. Second, the measurement culture has gotten ahead of the methodology, and no one in a position of authority seems to be asking hard questions about whether the numbers actually mean what they're being presented as meaning. Third, some management feel disconnected from the work itself, lacking the knowledge, hands-on experience, or relevant credentials. Individually any one of these would be manageable. Together these create an environment where it's hard to do rigorous work, rather work is performative, and be recognized for it.

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