Maru Group reviews

Hard to work with some people, poor management, people stuck in their bubbles, limited guidance.

Where do I begin? Please read if you're considering working here, or at The Harris Poll (Maru was just acquired in 2023), especially under the MET or CGS Vertical. This was my first full time role out of school, and I was backfilling a role of a Research Manager. I was supposed to come in as an Associate and was promoted titles prior to being hired because they were clearly desperate. Since I was referred in, they automatically put an unhealthy amount of trust in me. I knew this was a red flag, but I was promised adequate onboarding and support, and unfortunately -- that was far from what I was given. My grandfather was literally on his deathbed at the time I was being hired and I was promised a truncated schedule as it was right around the holidays, and this was not honored, either. I had a surgery and a vacation scheduled in the month of December and despite the fact that I wasn't contributing any value on the team or taught anything at this point, was berated for not being a "team player" and was met with countless walls of texts (and MORE throughout my time there) for having a pre-planned 2 day vacation RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and for a surgery I had prescheduled -- both of which I flagged to HR. Throughout my time, it felt like I was fighting with a bunch of middle schoolers. I was thrown into a project within my first 3 days and berated for asking questions more than once -- mind you, this was my first experience in a full time role and in Market Research. I didn't know the terminology, processes, or how to approach a project -- and when I asked for clarification, there was such subliminal and often explicit shame. I'd be told things like "Oh, as you recall" "Oh, I think I mentioned this earlier" and "Oh, I think I've already told you this" on my THIRD day. It was never ending, and this continued on and worsened during my time there, with people constantly having a severe attitude problem when I asked a question, answering with "What are you talking about?" or "You should already know this" (I had 0 training and there were no streamlined/organized resources or people to turn to, or to train me). I yearned for connection and asked a colleague to come to the office with me ONE TIME, to which she said "I have a nice set up at home, there's nothing in it for me." And when our very cliquey manager was in town who was closer in age to her, this same colleague made the effort to come in. It was evident I was not liked and people didn't care for my presence, no matter how many times I tried to connect and reason with them, or even get to know them outside of work. I was met with constant backlash, demeaning behavior, ignorance, and rudeness. It is an insanely unsupportive environment despite what level or team you're joining at -- I've conferred with multiple senior employees that have left the company (some of which are still there, too!), and the negative experience is OVERWHELMINGLY aligned. I hardly learned anything I wanted to during my time at Maru, and 1 week, and more so 3 months in, I was 100% sure I had to either quit or find a new role. Family and friends told me to stick it out to the half year mark, and so I did. I continued to hardly learn or experience any type of productive mentorship or development opportunities. My direct manager was also on quite the power trip and was hired as a director with only 5 years total of industry experience. Hey girl! If your'e reading this -- I acknowledge her brilliance and knowledge -- but she (and MANY other members of this all female team) had a serious attitude problem and superiority complex, and it impacted every single conversation she had with me (positive or negative). It was evident she had never managed someone before, never mind being so close in age, and it led to multiple hostile conversations. Inappropriate jokes stretching as far as mocking someone for wearing a wig and speculating if they had cancer were welcomed by certain members of the ruling class, and candor from others was chastised. The industry nepotism and age gap between myself and the women on my team created such an air of toxicity and made way for many differences to expose themself -- resulting in more than one interpersonal argument or call-out against me. I stopped caring around half a year in and let it play out, and I was eventually laid off with the SVP off camera. It was a cold, disingenuous, and inhumane experience from my first to last moments there. I had tried moving teams for an entire 6 months and had filed an official complaint against my team and it never came to fruition, so it's safe to say I was thrilled to be let go and be eligible for severance and unemployment while working on finding my next gig. But it also felt deliberate to be let go, and was bad timing. I was dealt a two-faced card in the end. It's hard to lose your job, but it's even harder to lose yourself in one. I have almost no redeeming experiences or professional growth to share from my time at Maru, and that is in large part due to the childish, toxic, self-important and self-absorbed atmosphere (looking at YOU, Media, Entertainment, and Tech folks!) that didn't have the emotional or mental capacity to properly onboard or support an employee that wasn't fitting into the orchestrated corporate lie they were perpetuating every single day. It was exhausting and excruciating to speak to such vain, empty people everyday and pretend like I gave a hoot about QA'ing reports for clients that literally hated them, and ended up breaking business with them. Maru had strained relationships with more than 4 clients across my time there and left a pretty poor impression on some of the larger ones. Not only did their employees dislike working with them, but their clients, too. All in all, a genuinely negative, isolating environment that depleted me of all my energy and hope to grow. It made me feel utterly stagnant in my first full time professional role. Maru has a completely disorganized, dysfunctional, chaotic, dismissive, and out-of-touch approach to its business and its people. 1000/10 recommend straying as far away as possible. This may be an angsty review, but it's also just an honest one -- I'm not a spiteful person and often took initiative to make this situation the best it could be. I went into the office to interface with members from other teams, tried to implement efficiencies in our manual reporting to be able to work on more insightful projects, and voiced my concerns over personal growth and development countless times. In the end, the fact is, they DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU, and are full of B.S. -- through and through, from the way they approach team conversations, to the way they talk about the future of the company, to how much they're invested in your growth. These people have all worked with each other for years or been friends for years, and are not interested in making way for newcomers to feel welcomed or supported whatsoever. Maru might not exist by the time you're reading this. But the Harris Poll acquired them and will probably stick around, so be weary of them as well if you're thinking of applying. Be weary of Stagwell companies in general and do your due diligence to connect with people currently in the role and read reviews to get the full picture.