Once upon a time TBWA\ Düsseldorf
Arbeitsatmosphäre
There is a lot of frustration among the employees. Failures are usually glossed over and problems ignored. In many cases, the management has too little sensitivity for the precarious situation in the mostly understaffed teams. There is often the feeling that dreaming big and working reality are drifting further and further apart. Many recent decisions seem to have been made only to increase profits, leaving much of the human aspect behind.
Kommunikation
A lot of blah blah blah, but there is not much open and honest communication. Many things you only find out through the grapevine. Basically, everything is always sold as an innovation even when it's a disadvantage. It is also not uncommon to keep employees motivated with empty promises. Also, one may doubt that HR really helps the employees with their concerns. Especially in the upper levels, responsibilities are gladly passed on in case of problems. For many people, the upper echelons sit in an ivory tower.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
There are many nice people working in the agency, who all know that they are sitting in the same boat. Unfortunately, it is the lack of capacity and the misorganization of the leads that makes the mood drop from time to time, even among each other. Especially you have to watch out for a few toxic personalities who like to trip others up when things get tight.
Work-Life-Balance
Depends on team and can fluctuate from workday to continual overtime.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
Many who did their job very well are unfortunately not there anymore. The management communicates at eye level and wraps everything up in nice words. Organizationally, most things are hidden from the staff. The accounting people in the higher positions are often considered more important than the creatives who do the job. Thereby, one can get the feeling that there are some who rest on the work of others.
Interessante Aufgaben
The work is mostly creative, but the allocation of work is unfortunately quite unsophisticated. There is too much work in silos for my opinion. Pitches and new business are frequently given to the same people. Unfortunately, there is rarely exchange between the core teams on the fixed accounts. You have to struggle to get some variation on clients. Due to the high workload, this can also quickly become a boomerang.
Gleichberechtigung
There are many women in anykind of position.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
There are still a few people over 50! But many of the experienced creatives who have been there for longer have disappeared over time.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Noisy open-plan offices with few opportunities for privacy and a lot of hustle and bustle. The technical equipment is standard for the branch. Some of the office furniture is a bit outdated, but on the whole acceptable. The rows of desks are somewhat reminiscent of a government office. Unfortunately, there are officially no longer any permanent workstations where you can create some private space.
Many practical and useful programs and features are blocked by Omnicon for cybersecurity reasons, and exceptions have to be approved in a rather complicated way by supervisors and the IT department. No air conditioning in the summer. Free soft drinks have been eliminated in favor of employee health. The home office days are always the best.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
There is still no real waste separation in my opinion.
Gehalt/Sozialleistungen
Like promotions, salary negotiations are a difficult subject and often take more than half a year. Although Omnicon and the TBWA Group are not doing badly in the crisis according to the trade press, to my knowledge there has been no inflation compensation or salary adjustments so far. For my expectation the pay is relatively lower average for a normal employee and could be a bit better for the very complex field of work. However, this has become common practice in the advertising industry, which is not very employee-friendly.
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Used to be better. Through the fusion with Heimat, the TBWA Group is currently trying to bring the prestige from Berlin to Düsseldorf.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
From week to week there are some interesting presentations. But only a few get to participate in the real TBWA Elite training programs. Newcomers often have a hard time and have to struggle through it. Career jumps have to be paid for with sympathy points, which you get from your bosses. Talent sometimes doesn't play as big a role as one might think.