I want to talk about my experience. What I went through may not be representative of everyone’s experience at living proof, but I share a lot in common with other reviewers. While many of my coworkers complained with me and mirrored my frustrations, not everyone wants to voice their concerns on a platform like this. People who decide to continue working at living proof will likely never speak up on here because of how gossipy the office is. The amount of times I have walked by whispering people is insane. EVERYBODY complains at work; it is human nature. Not everyone will keep your complaints confidential so I stress you have to be careful who you trust. I am not exaggerating when I say this office feels like highschool.
First of all, the HR team genuinely does not care about people. HR likes to pretend that unhappy people are the problem, when the real problem is the toxicity of this company. Again, let me reiterate, HR treats unhappy employees like a problem and makes no effort to fix the issues making people unhappy. HR is committed to protecting the image of the company at the expense of the very real feelings employees have. I would not recommend going to HR with any concerns because they will blame you for not being blindly happy, especially if you don’t fall into their clique.
Aside from the deeply flawed HR department, one of the clearest issues with living proof is that there is little opportunity for career advancement. Before joining the company, I was told there were lots of opportunities for growth, and that has not felt true. Rather, I see folks whose title may change but responsibilities remain the same. When asked about this lack of advancement in a business wide event, the head of HR suggested employees attend random meetings that they “don’t understand” just so more members of senior management see them around. Considering such downright ridiculous advice, I genuinely feel that those in positions of leadership do not care about the career trajectory and satisfaction of those below them. There are of course exceptions, but even they have to operate in this stagnant environment.
Those who do get promoted benefit from rampant favoritism. This favoritism is often motivated by a long tenure at living proof rather than by performance. In fact, several key employees at living proof, who have worked for the company since nearly the beginning, are perhaps the biggest under-performers. These folks are filled with excuses and force their own tasks onto others without consequence. This has led to, and will likely continue to lead to, expensive mistakes with no accountability taken by those truly at fault.
All of these issues lead to an inability by living proof to retain talent. Why would driven, knowledgeable employees want to remain at a company that does not value hard work? Unfortunately, this rapid turnover leads to a knowledge vacuum that ultimately causes more catastrophic mistakes.
Given issues within the company, morale has been low. While true leaders can step up in these circumstances, living proof is filled with bosses (NOT leaders). These bosses do not value the happiness of employees; they simply care about the work getting done. If people quit because of the negative environment, employees who remain must take on more responsibilities and ensure things get done, no matter how under-qualified they are. If the work can get done, why hire more people? Who cares if people are overwhelmed, overworked, and taking on tasks they do not understand? This is the mentality of living proof that further feeds into huge mistakes being made.
On a larger level, the leadership team does not have a clear vision for what directions the company should pursue. If they do have such a vision, it is not communicated effectively to teams within the company. This leads to teams wasting time on tasks that are ultimately abandoned. Then, to progress in areas that the leadership team is suddenly interested in, teams must frantically change directions. As you can guess, this once again leads to corners being cut and thus more mistakes being made.
If you have read this far, I urge you to reconsider joining living proof. Working for living proof was one of the biggest mistakes of my professional career. It negatively affected my view of the brand itself and the personal care industry as a whole. I am so deeply let down and disappointed by this company and hope that the few good people left will leave soon. I do not understand how anyone could leave a positive review for this place (unless they are directly asked to do so by their manager). It was the saddest, most uncomfortable environment I can possibly imagine working in. Again, the problems I have described will likely continue to plague this company because HR and management will neither take accountability nor work to adequately address feedback.
Advice to management: STOP GASLIGHTING EMPLOYEES! If you mess up, own up to it instead of pretending the problem does not exist. Stop blaming employees for being unhappy and try to make living proof a good (or even average) place to work. When people quit, try to actively listen to their reasons why instead of trying to force them out quickly. People remember that kind of treatment and won’t speak highly of you. Try to make high quality products instead of rolling out new products as fast as possible. Create a space to ask for feedback and hold yourself accountable for mistakes. Now that living proof has stopped coasting off of its previously good reputation (take a look at non-incentivized product reviews made in the past year), it’s time for Unilever to rebuild this entire organization.
