Argus Media reviews

3.9

76% would recommend to a friend

(471 total reviews)

Adrian Binks

65% approve of CEO

66% positive business outlook

Argus Media has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 471 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Argus Media employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Mídia e comunicação industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

471 reviews
1.0
Sep 22, 2019
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice office Free fruit Some (few) nice people Stable company

Cons

Where do I start? Extremely toxic culture Everyone is stuck in the past and don’t want to see anything new Ideas are not welcome Management is stuck in the 1980s and are totally backwards People backstab you constantly Moat of the benefits are only for people that have been there forever TIP: If they offer you a bonus, don’t count on it as whatever the amount they’ll just pay you 20% of what they initially said. (Ie. if your supposed yearly bonus was £5,000, they’ll only pay you £1,000). They don’t tell you this but you’ll find out when you join and ask

1.0
Feb 19, 2018
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Location is convenient and near the subway station.

Cons

Yearly salary increments are pegged to the country’s inflation rate, meaning, no one has any motivation to work hard at all. This makes completely zero sense as why should an individual’s increment be based off an external factor like the inflation rate instead on their own personal achievements and performance? If the office is located in a country with deflation, does this mean employees have to face a pay cut? Management implicitly forces employees to look to rival PRAs or companies for an offer to use as a leverage for promotion and a higher salary. This is not a company that values loyalty or dedication. Management tries to motivate employees in other ways and telling them to look at the other “opportunities” available. Attend overseas conferences or even present at one. Attend meetings with hotshot traders etc. But remember this, no matter how well you seize these chances and do well, you are not guaranteed of any promotion or increment. The tried and tested way is to get an external offer. And so that is the ONLY OPPORTUNITY Argus can offer you - to learn as much as you can, plump up your resume, and then LEAVE the company for greener grass. Or rinse and repeat said mercenary strategy above. Because the company is so flat, it is very obvious to see those at the top vying to keep the power and benefits concentrated within the same circle. To give a simple example, in an open-plan office - the concept of which is precisely to create a sense of egalitarianism and literally remove the barriers between social classes - the CEO was personally in-charge in drawing up the seating plan to ensure everyone seats accordingly - from most senior at the back, to most junior at the front. Or another example during the most recent Townhall, when employees were told that “the lowest third will not get any pay rewards”. Leadership suffers from the Peter Principle. Those who stayed have been promoted to their level of incompetence. And because the company is so flat, they are blocking the promotion progress of those at the bottom who outperform every year into in a permanent state of oblivion until they wake up to reality and leave.

2.0
Nov 23, 2017

Toxic; have an exit plan

Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Markets are interesting for most, some intelligent people to talk to, you can learn lots about your market which can be good to make move into industry; great coffee machine; weekly fresh fruit delivery and occasional lunch leftovers; people who like to bake bring treats to share; gym benefits; Nice onsite gym and facilities that provide free fitness assessment; company is trying to expand to do more social media engagement with subscribers so it can start to catch up with competitors; company making efforts to improve grossly outdated technology; office ; is nice and clean; company also trying to increase travel opportunities to improve retention; office location near the bayou; overall benefits in line with the market; no waiting time to vest 401K; no charge for parking garage; close to downtown; company hold great market engagement parties

Cons

You don’t even have to read this section, just ask yourself: “Why the heck would so many people leave a place that pays above industry average and has all the aforementioned perks?”; All the critical reviews posted here are true; lots of recent executive departures and resignations across departments; company is basically magnet for journalists who are fleeing a dying industry, so they protect bullies and have very high turnover (red flag for bullying); many colleagues and superiors will have few other places to go if they lose their job, so they could sabotage you, depending on which team you’re on; be prepared to dumb yourself down to not outshine those with power over you; inner circle clique other reviewer referenced is very real; you’ll be expected to ridicule the same people your boss makes fun of; many in leadership only have position because all others resigned; new or different ideas are stolen or quashed if you aren’t the “right person”; diversity seriously lacking; tiny percentage of females and minorities who stay long; consistent intimidation on many teams (which makes you wonder about the flurry of recent ‘all positive’ reviews here, no?); don’t bother going to HR because they are in disarray, dealing with the aftermath of their own resignations and will side with bullies; this is reflected in melancholy atmosphere cited by other reviewer; management deflects responsibility for these issues because they have large pool of starving journalists waiting to get in the door; everyone is disposable; office atmosphere is depressing and few people talk to one another; there’s a reason they don’t give you a tour of the office when you interview

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Argus Media Response
8y
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback, and know that any report of bullying is of great concern to the Executive Leadership team and me. This is something we take very seriously and is behavior we would neither protect nor condone. We have global policies and procedures in place, such as the whistleblower hotline, an employee assistance program and a non-harassment policy, that are intended to both prevent and protect employees from such actions. In addition to the formal policies, we encourage any employee who feels subjected to inappropriate behavior to speak directly to HR or any member of the management team they feel comfortable approaching. In recent years, Argus has also added to its HR department to ensure it can properly support an organization that has more than doubled in size over the past 5 years. This includes the addition of a Head of HR for the Americas region (May 2016) and, most recently, a Global CHRO. Employee turnover is costly, and due to this, we have made recent efforts to develop lines of communication with our employees, including staff opinion surveys, training opportunities, an extensive on-boarding program and the aforementioned increase in HR resources, which has yielded a significant decline in year-over-year turnover, currently less than 4% year-to-date. A further sign of employee satisfaction is that 23% of our hires last year came through staff referrals – probably the greatest compliment we can receive and a testament to our culture. It is disheartening to hear of a former employee having a negative experience, but Argus is a company that values the insights and daily contributions of our staff. I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you and learn more about your time at Argus should you choose to contact me.
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Glassdoor has 520 Argus Media reviews submitted anonymously by Argus Media employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Argus Media is right for you.