Pros
Far and away, the people who work at the company are best in class. Reynolds has passionate, caring people and they are in great danger of losing them if they continue down the path they are headed. Flexible work schedule, vacation time (3 weeks to start, 5 weeks after 5 years, 2 floating holidays, etc.), matching 401 k, and tuition reimbursement which is definitely the best I’ve seen in the CPG industry.
Cons
Where to start? I’ve read so many of these reviews, and having held multiple roles over many years, I have a lot to of thoughts and a very unique perspective to give. I’d like to say that a resounding theme is TM’s being overworked. Many might say that this could be misconstrued as them whining which I wholeheartedly disagree with. TM’s are not opposed to hard work; what they are opposed to is being exploited and not being fairly compensated for a vastly increasing workload (ie being responsible for four + times the amount of brands) with increasing tracking mechanisms and reporting that make them feel micro-managed and suffocated. They used to be praised for being Category Advisors and are now highly executional, weighed down by too many tasks, overwhelming directions that don’t drive the business, and overbearing Managers that think contests will motivate them when all it does is add additional pressure they don’t need. To top it off, they have folks from Home Office come into town who refer to them as “knuckle draggers” in casual conversation which totally destroys any shred of morale they may have had left and confirms any suspicion they had of what the people in Corporate actually think of them (and yes, that really did happen). Compensation for TM’s and AM’s needs to be re-examined. The workload is not appropriate for the pay, and the demands are too stressful for the job description. Please look at what Managers are saying and doing in the field—CE competitions, insane tracking of TM’s, bullying, etc. As a fellow Manager, I have become alarmed at what I have seen my peers do and what TM’s have reported to me. My cries to HR have fallen on deaf ears and it seems that this is now the culture of the organization. What once was a great, motivating place to be is now a toxic, stressful, “Big Brother” type of place. And in case you all were wondering, HR is there to protect Reynolds, not you. The need to move in order to be promoted is antiquated and stops many hard-working, deserving people from advancing in the company. It makes me disappointed that this practice is still in play in 2018, when so many CPG companies dropped it in the 80’s and 90’s. Reynolds still has a military mentality where you have to drop everything within a week and relocate your family in order to move up. Sacrifice all, and be rewarded. Turn down an opportunity, and be black balled. I have seen many peers and friends end up in absolutely horrible locations and suffer from depression and be extremely unhappy as a result. Many, many people I know have left the company as a result and are much happier in the long run. Lastly, as many have stated, this is not a place for women. I have been told multiple times throughout my tenure that I have only earned my place because the talent pool needed more women in Management and that’s why I was there. This, despite having earned an “above the line” rating every year since being employed at Reynolds. Nearly every Manager told me this since my employ—-Maybe not directly, but it was heavily implied that it would certainly “help my trajectory”.
