Expect to be frustrated, bored and deskilled in digital, tech and marketing. The Food segment is not the employer if you like to see ideas seen through and not spend 90% of your time on Skype calls or in Outlook.
Digital last: This is not a digital-first organisation. Digital and tech capabilities and mindset are 3-5 years behind where they should be.
Powerpoint City: Too many powerpoint pre-reads ahead meetings and constant creation of 20-80 slide decks that are not followed by action.
Governance and processes: The global team has low authority because decisions are owned by the markets and are final. Global and local teams are rarely aligned. This results in meetings and emails that are focused on stakeholder management rather than driving action.
Risk-averse: Markets are too focused on the business of today and are not forward-thinking.
Delivery for delivery's sake: At the expense of the end-user and disregard for business needs, too many associates deliver digital or tech solution meet their personal objectives or make them look good in an internal newsletter.
Not collaborative: Because of the big focus on individual performance, relationships can be transactional as associates only have meetings or exchange emails when one party needs something from others.
Summary:
Mars Food is a great employer but a bad career choice if you have a career in digital, marketing or technology. It's a business with a mindset biased towards why something won't work instead of how it could work and be action tomorrow instead of in 12-18 months.
It's a slow-moving business so be warned if your background is working at fast-paced businesses whether startups, SMEs or large ones.
