What do you say about a company that asks its HR employees, family & friends to write-up positive things about the company on Glassdoor to mitigate all the real negative reviews? Well IFF has done that, but that is reflective of the IFF culture, which there is no culture. There are 2 sides to IFF; the Creative & Corporate. The only relatively content people are the ones on the creative side. Though both sides of IFF are very, very toxic and retaliatory. It is an EXTREMELY top-heavy organization; EC/C-suite are separate and detached from their corresponding business unites, sitting isolated on the top floor in NYC corp. office away from everyone which contributes to the lack of culture. The irony is that everyone in the company knows that C-Suite leaders all dislike each other, bickering with one another, dragging their EA’s into the drama, which by the way, is a revolving door of EA’s cause they are all put up against each other – there is no trust at IFF in any level.
The CHRO & HR is a joke, puppets with a lack of backbone to stand-up to the CEO and the rest of the EC members. There is an internal countdown to the departure of the CEO & others that are kept in the company to the detriment of the business. This IS a bully environment that trickles from the top. HR is extremely disappointing; no support and all have hidden agendas- you must watch your back from the Regional HR Managers that are there to police, document and write everyone up including people in their HR teams unwarranted. A lot is run on the ‘likability factor’ or how you ‘yes’ someone to death (that is one way of surviving). It is a very cut-throat environment. There is unrealistic and unnecessary pressure to check-off boxes of policies that are outdated and out of touch for 2019. HR tip-toes around the CHRO and senior managers, and most of the time bend-over to the pleasure and pressure of senior leaders. If you are the unfortunate low level, L1 – L4, you do not have the ‘right’ to speak to someone more senior. There are invisible lines to respect otherwise suffer the repercussions. The unspoken rule is ‘how-high’ one should jump when supporting senior managers and feed their egos. Your job is a challenge due to antiquated technology making the simple complicated. The CHRO spends no time with her staff though she has a second office among them. It is a CYA culture - Cover Your A** - everything is emailed for that reason.
IFF may be a stepping stone in your career; you will absolutely suffer, you will be constantly told that you are doing something incorrectly or that you are not doing enough when everyone is putting a 1000%. No recognition for good work and runs on a Zero-Based budget – never any money for the employees but plenty of money to fly senior leaders to Asia and EU to have last minute meetings. There is no sensitivity to work-life balance -current program is a 3-page application designed to deter you from it. Kudos to the few line managers that treat people nicely as they should be treated. The only concern is making sure that the stock price does not drop. You career depends entirely upon who your manager is. Those that stay for many years is due to location and lack of competition/options in that area of the world. Enter at your own risk.
