General Mills reviews

4.0

80% would recommend to a friend

(3,878 total reviews)
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Jeff Harmening

80% approve of CEO

62% positive business outlook

General Mills has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 3,878 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The General Mills employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufactura industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

4K reviews
1.0
Jan 30, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Summer fridays. Well paid for CPG.

Cons

This place really needs a hard dose of reality. Here's why: 1) Internal focused: The company doesn't look outside to truly be consumer-first (one of it's tenents or whatever they call it now). We're stuck in the 70s selling junk that no one eats. We do look at competitors but if you're looking at Kellogg or other such companies, you're lying to yourself because your competition is nimble agile start-ups, which brings me to my second point... 2) Inability to accept defeat or learn from real mistakes: The company just celebrates fake wins and is not really interested in admitting they made a mistake (read Chobani's rise to yogurt dominance). They're still rejuvenating Yoplait while the world is moving to some new trend, which brings me to my third point... 3) Lack of true innovation: The company hasn't launched anything path breaking or even remotely "new" in the last many years that can possibly cash on a trend and be a big hit. Sour patch yoplait is innovation because that's what the world needs right? Why they don't innovate takes me to my fourth point... 4) Fake people: Probably the worst part of the company. Minnesota passive aggressiveness and the bubble these people live in inhibits any real conversations or acknowledgement of problems. Add the lack of diversity, which translates to "we only know how to do things one way since we've been doing that for 20 years" - How's that working out for you? 5) Location: As progressive or hipster the city is, Minneapolis still is very small-town in mindset. People aren't passionate about work - they only care about their cabins, half-day fridays and their way of doing things. Very difficult to build a life outside work. Overall, don't go here unless your goal is to either peace out in 2 years with a brand name on your resume or die here (like all the Minnesotans who work here and pretend to love it every day).

2.0
Dec 20, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Looks great on resume Classic CPG marketing training Nice office campus

Cons

No work/life balance Horrible layoffs happening right now creating a very negative environment Past decisions of overpaid executive leaders are now being paid for by the entire company - not enough sustainable innovation and new ideas to move the company forward Very political Conservative in making decisions Up or out culture - very challenging to get promoted, most people get counseled out of their jobs

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General Mills Response
11y
Thank you for your comments and suggestions. All Glassdoor comments are confidential, however please know as a current General Mills employee if you would like to discuss your concerns directly please contact your HR representative and they can share your ideas with the appropriate leadership team members.
2.0
Jul 16, 2015

Fading Fast

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I joined General Mills knowing full well I would not be making as much as I could be at another company. I chose to join the company regardless because of the excellent benefits and unlimited growth potential. I am sorry to say neither applies anymore and employees have taken note- turnover seems to be skyrocketing.

Cons

The company keeps chipping away at everything it can to cut costs and make shareholders happy. Unfortunately, this has left the majority of employees unhappy and many of the best are leaving. The most innovative and talented employees are left stuck in their little box of "safe" job responsibilities because General Mills is too scared to do anything new. This leaves the best employees bored, and makes great talent and the people who could truly bring a new life to the company walk out the door. Also, the pay is terrible and benefits are reduced more and more every season. Many of these changes are "hush-hush" so as to not rile employees. Employees used to justify the low pay by saying what great benefits they got, but we're all starting to scratch our heads now. The low pay can be easily noted by seeing how many employees actually have part-time jobs or ventures outside of General Mills.

Viewing 7 - 9 of 3,878 Reviews

Glassdoor has 5,152 General Mills reviews submitted anonymously by General Mills employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if General Mills is right for you.