Pros
- The people: kind-hearted, lovely, generous and friendly. You'll make plenty of friends here and meet truly quirky and interesting characters with unique hobbies/interests (5/5 stars). - The products: GNPD/consumer research data & food/drink insights on the platform are a gold mine of amazing content and resources. It'll be hard for other companies to beat this breadth/depth of knowledge and expertise. - Location: in the heart of London next to St. Paul's and the Tate Modern. - Flexibility: super flexible when it comes to travelling, working from home and working different hours/abroad. Way ahead of its time compared to other businesses who force people into the office. - International feel: so many cultures and nationalities to be found. The company truly feels global and it's just wonderful! - Agile: Mintel feels quite agile in some ways. You have a new idea? You can definitely try and implement it. The flat hierarchy also empowers this type of mindset. - Invests in the future: AI tools, Mintel Futures etc. - The branding and aesthetics of Mintel.
Cons
- The new CEO: the new CEO really damaged Mintel's culture with his aggressive tone, lack of empathy and coldness. He is the opposite of what Mintel used to stand for: kind, warm and friendly. He culled 10% of the global workforce, whilst the business was actually profitable. The narrative around Mintel used to be that it's a stable, safe-haven type of employer but he's alienated plenty of people and instilled a sense of insecurity and distrust in the leadership team. - Talent retention: Mintel underappreciates talented and intelligent people, including those who have worked there for 20+ years. Instead of investing in them, they get neglected and end up leaving. Really disappointing! Beyond this, several long-standing employees and even MVP (most valuable player) award winners were let go as a result of redundancies. Nobody is safe: not even those who go 'above and beyond' for the business. Back in the days Mintel used to be much kinder and humane. - Too sales-focused: analysts have to buy their own cakes, sales teams can expense £50 cakes on the company. All you need to know! Most senior leadership roles are filled by sales people who rose up the ranks. They can sell themselves to others but oftentimes aren't very smart. The leadership team could do with a shake up and replace some of these sales clowns with intelligent, thoughtful and authentic leaders. - Morale: there used to be a real buzz around Mintel. The firm was quirky, full of eccentric and fun people. Post-work drinks, First Fridays and loads of fun created a very special, magical atmosphere. Hybrid working, sacking some truly appreciated personalities and letting go of the Pilgrim Street office has damaged the culture significantly, sadly. As a result of firing these much-loved Mintelians who boosted overall morale and also the reduced osmosis of ideas/relationships forming outside of work, the company has weakened its USP: a strong culture. The company is becoming more Americanised day-by-day and seems to try and build a new generation of cookie cutters. - Constant U-turning of Snr. Mgmt.: plenty of times the company makes a big, big buzz around a new project, just for it to u-turn on it later. For instance, there was a massive focus on using Monday.com just for it to be culled 1 year later. Same with Mintel Purchase intelligence in Europe. Equally, the business often overexpands/over hires just to let go of people in the end for its own lack of foresight. The worst is when analysts get let go as a result of sales teams failing to sell a stream and not hitting their targets. The wrong people get punished!