Pros
P&G is probably the ideal place to start a career. For recent grads, you'll receive excellent training, and be exposed to sophisticated systems and procedures. P&G is a very structured environment, which may not truly be appreciated until you venture outside of the company. Whether you consider your training there to be formal or informal, you're guaranteed to learn the best practices in whatever function you're in. I recommend that new hires immerse themselves in the environment and culture, and soak up as much as possible. There's a lot to learn if you put in the time. I genuinely enjoyed my colleagues, and I think Cincinnati is an interesting place to live for a period of time. As someone from the East Coast, I think a stint in the midwest was a real eye-opener for me. Yes, the town lacks diversity and is very insular. But living there helped me to understand why people in the region think a certain way.
Cons
Bob McDonald is focused on reducing the layers of management at P&G. The strategy will surely help the company to become more agile and improve decision making. But this also means that the average employee will find a ceiling at Band 3. So most P&G'ers will feel frustrated and eventually loose morale since their careers will stall at middle management simply because there are fewer slots for advancement to Band 4 and beyond. So while P&G hires some of the most talented people in the world, the company doesn't do a great job at providing enough people with room to grow. Compensation is only OK. Most Band 2's and Band 3's will live quite comfortably in Cincinnati (Mason, Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, or Westchester). The cost of living there is truly laughable. But the compensation system doesn't do much to motivate employees. In most functions, getting a 1 rating may seem arbitrary, and when attained, it's anticlimactic. And if you've realized that you haven't been anointed to move beyond Band 3 (ie. no international assignment or slow promotion to Band 3), an occasional 1 rating seems like you've just been thrown a bone. Bonus incentives, beyond STAR awards, don't kick in until Band 4 and higher. And as mentioned, most P&G'ers won't rise that high in the company. So most workers in the trenches do just enough to maintain a 2 rating, and not much else. The benefits have been deteriorating over the years. While this is true at most companies, P&G also suffers from an antiquated profit-sharing system. As time goes on, incoming generations are decreasingly impressed by the delayed gratification that is P&G Profit Sharing. The company emphasizes its historic stock performance while glossing over the fact that the company is so large that it will never see the growth that it saw in the 1980's ever again. Lastly, being a P&G'er isn't truly realized until you leave P&G. In my new role, my colleagues are visibly impressed with my P&G "pedigree". The company has a great reputation for grooming leaders. But under P&G's current management, the best opportunity to lead is often found outside of P&G.