Colgate-Palmolive reviews

4.1

81% would recommend to a friend

(2,482 total reviews)
avatar

Noel Wallace

86% approve of CEO

72% positive business outlook

Colgate-Palmolive has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 2,482 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Colgate-Palmolive employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Produktion industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
4.0
Dec 2, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Colgate truly understands the work-life balance. This is stressed by senior management and true for all employees. Some departments even include programs to work from home. While there may be exceptions during times of go-lives or product launches, management recognizes that we are a toothpaste company and work should not interrupt family life on a daily basis. The benefits package are fair.

Cons

Management's understanding of who is really performing the work and providing the greatest value to to company is often misguided. Promotions are far too political and not based upon merit. Competition for retaining employees is a challenge due to local competition. Management only views other consumer goods companies as competition for employees, not recognizing that many skills are easily translated to other industries. Despite this, turnover is still relatively low, since it is a good company to work for.

4.0
Nov 19, 2008

Becoming hte best place to work

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

good place for professional women

Cons

time in grade can impact the average employee's promotions

2.0
Oct 25, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Colgate is a very efficiently and well-managed, very stable company. There are lots of opportunities to grow and stay with the company for a long time if you so choose to. The benefits are above average, not as good as some other companies but definitely competitive and more than sufficient for most people. The people are smart and quite capable. If you absolutely need to work in NYC then location is ideal. If you are doing relatively well then international assignments are a big possibility. It's a good place to come in as an early hire as it is a family environment for those who fit into the culture, and for these people you can develop your career there as a lifer.

Cons

Colgate in general is very stiff and bureaucratic and extremely hierarchical, especially if you work in the NYC office. There are too many layers of management, especially in Marketing which is the decision-making function in the company. Colgate is also very formal environment where you need to wear suits every day, which creates a lot of good "corporate soldiers" and people unwilling to push the status quo or play beyond the party line. Senior management can be very into the details and there too many demands on employees to analyze everything to the minutest details. Also, there is general lack of risk-taking or letting employees make decisions, for marketing people it is not an entrepreneurial environment at all. It is very difficult for people who did not grow up in the culture to integrate, and there are some employees that really should be let go due to performance issues or inability to manage others who continue to stay in the organization.

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Glassdoor has 4,707 Colgate-Palmolive reviews submitted anonymously by Colgate-Palmolive employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Colgate-Palmolive is right for you.