Mercer Reviews

Cons

Nothing negative to comment on.

Cons

A little heavy pushing from the top down

Cons

quite routine work and lack of learning opportunities

Cons

Skewed reward structure focussed on those that shout the loudest, with no discernable link to talent, revenue generation or client feedback. Micromanagement of consulting staff is stifling their ability to deliver to clients. Lack of investment means technology, research functions and back office systems are increasingly inadequate. Staff morale is poor.

Cons

Silly graduate scheme that doesnt gurantee roles

Cons

Where do I start:
1. Poor people managers who have only worked at Mercer and have no experience working at other organisations, so don't appreciate how weak they are.
2. The worst HR function that I have experienced
3. No action taken by HR department or senior management when serious concerns are raised by employees and whistle blowers
4. Our Health Consulting and Sales division have not had a salary increase in the last 5 years.
5. The majority of employees have had their annual bonuses cancelled for the last 2 years for no reason, even if you smash your target. The reason given was that that Mercer is the USA has underperformed, so salary increases and bonuses in the UK have been blocked
6. If you hit sales target one year, your next years' targets are increased to a level that are completely unachievable.
7. Very poor people managers with some teams experiencing a 100% employee attrition rate in the last few years
8. For Xmas 2018, Mercer are laying off nearly 150 people in the UK due to company missing target
9. A large number of the most talented Mercer team members have already left the company in the last 12 months, or are planning to leave and already have their CVs with recruitment agencies.
10. Internal UK Mercer teams are fighting amongst themselves and this causes a very negative working environment within the whole of Mercer.
11. We are currently under a travel ban, so although have a number of clients needing to be met with in December, we have been told by Mercer senior management that there is no money left in the pot for 2018, early 2019, so are under an expenses and travel ban. Some Mercer employees have significant amount of business expenses owed to them by Mercer, that now do not look like they will not be reimbursed, which is a shocking state of affairs, and has left them out of pocket by over £2k!

Cons

The culture is quite depressing, and leaders do not seem to care or know how to speak with people. I feel sorry for the graduates working there, work should not be this dull. Tenured lifetimers in charge of the business lacking external experience and not interested in change or upsetting the status quo.

Cons

Poor Training
Lack of progression
Too much overtime expected with little recognition/reward

Cons

too much bureaucracy and red tape

Cons

- Leadership displays a complete lack of trust in colleagues on the ground. As an example, a new policy this year required senior leader approval for all expenses, even those that were directly related to the delivery of client work - essentially telling on-the-ground colleagues that they aren't trusted to make decisions in the best interest of the company.
- Myopic focus on short-term business performance to please parent company shareholders - this not only hurts morale, but results in lots of wasted time on busy-work (forecasting sales and revenue multiple times per month, etc).
- Terrible succession planning: businesses and departments go for long periods without leaders when one departs.
- Very little formal training, and poor job of developing the next generation of leaders.
- Compensation is poor, and limited investment in social/fun activities.