#1 to #3 in 10 years.... - Anonymous employee IFF Employee Review

2.0
Dec 28, 2010
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- excellent work-life balance - friendly environment - above average 401K plan - decent communication betw. departments - culture has a tendency to be family oriented vs. intellectually "top notch" - the comments echoed from various employees are consistent. Just look at the comments on this website.

Cons

- miserly tuition reimbursement plan.. ~ 1 class/semester. - fluctuating bonus plan which has only paid out 1/2 the time. Only 2 of those times has it been at target stated levels or above. - stagnant market share which has resulted in #1 to #3 in 10 years (with #4 coming very close) - 3 CEOs in 9 years with a divisional restructuring with each tenure. All of which has not improved IFFs market share or rankings against its competitors. - sales growth in 10 years has only markedly increased in-line with inflation while the other 3 top competitors out of 4 has had substantial sales growth increases..leading to greater market share. The difference in #3 and #4 now is only 1.8% - There have been a few excellent directors and VPs I have worked with thru the years, and they never make it to the divisional VP or executive board level. There is a tendency for IFF to hire for these levels from the outside. - no transparency in grade levels or pay scale within those grade levels. - no well defined plan for employee development for promotional targets. It's highly political in this regard and more bureaucracy than meritocracy. - upper level management (divisional VPs, executive boards) have a tendency to be out of touch with whats happening at department levels or lower. There is a feeling of a "boys club" at the higher levels, and this clique-type aloof mentality shows in the promotion choices and lower level frustrations...(why offer suggestions to a VP if you feel like it's going to be ignored) - culture has a tendency to be family oriented vs. intellectually "top notch" - higher attrition rate than the industry average

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