A lot.. where to begin.
1) WORK-LIFE: Forget about it. you are expected to work late. In fact, if you leave on time, you are scorned upon by "team-mates" (READ: Superiors). Insane work hours! No one cares if you have to work until 11:30 pm - 12:00 midnight. You are expected to turn up the next day at 9 am with a big fat smile on your face.
2) WORK-LOAD: Bosses over-promise to clients (in terms of timelines and deliverables), which causes immense workload on team-members. Sometimes, they bite more than they can chew (I don't know why... maybe the 'big agency' ego or just to please clients). Prime reason for Point 1, WORK-LIFE. Also, a major reason to cause mistakes in projects. When mistakes happen, there is a prompt reprimand waiting to happen, but no one seems to acknowledge the cause of mistakes - INSANE WORK LOAD. Forget about seniors acknowledging your workload. Instead, once they know you can do it, you will always be the one doing it.
3) "GO BY THE BOOK": Too bureaucratic and corporatized for a company in MR. Rigidity and lack of fluidity in processes. Not all processes can be uniform for all projects.Too many forms and documents for simple, minor things. The proposals, research instruments, reports are highly templated and leave a little room for changes. Rigidity takes over ease and convenience in this case. Takes a long time to get fieldwork quotations which in turn delays the overall project quote which in turn delays deadlines. I guess the ISO compliance has created more issues than resolutions. Simple processes have become highly time-consuming. FYI, many global organizations are now moving away from ISO because of its cumbersomeness. It's basic principle is "Document what you do. Do what you document".
4) NOSTALGIA: So many people are still living in the "When I was in Synovate..." days. Seems that ex-Synovate people haven't been able to come out of that groove. May be that time was better. Who knows....
Whatever it is, it alienates those from the "non-Synovate days".
5) CROSS-COUNTRY RESEARCH: Not a lot of co-ordination. Many last minute changes and issues. Sometimes bordering on the verge of mismanagement.
6) WORK CULTURE: Different departments are different. Literally. Little cross-departmental communication (formal/informal), except the dept. heads who frequently may have KPI/target meetings.
7) OBLIVION: Department/team heads and top management significantly (if not completely) oblivious to employee issues at ground level (READ: work load, work-life or the lack of it, quicker burn-out). Or maybe they just turn a blind eye, as long as someone is there to do the project's hard labour.
8) BOTTOM LINE IS THE ONLY LINE: Too bottom-line driven. Not everything can be and has to be weighted by numbers. For example, when I asked my Director why are we not hiring 1 or 2 more researchers to ease of the workload, the standard reply I got was that, "we are not making enough money to justify another hire". End of discussion.
9) WHAT'S IN A NAME!?: Literally. Jr. RMs, SREs, REs and Assistants are just fancy nomenclatures. They basically spend a lot of time in doing menial clerical jobs due to the rigidity in processes.
10) COMPENSATION EQUITY: If I were doing a regular 8 hour/day job, I wouldn't mind the salary. But there is no system in place to account for all those extra 10-20 hours/week that I put.
I guess this is it.
FINAL VERDICT: If you are young and inexperienced and looking for a great first start on your resume, this is it! Not so great for a long-term stay though. A couple of years and you know it's time you checked out from here. Not a good long-term prospect as it will cause severe lack of personal life and an early burn-out.
I have a mildly negative future outlook for Ipsos, at least in terms of employee retention, employee welfare and manpower empowerment. Certainly not a company for anyone who expects personal life to take precedence over professional life.
