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.
