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      Unsupportive & unpleasant workplace - Anonymous employee SMG Employee Review

      1.0
      6 May 2025
      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      - Some benefits are positive and not offered at other companies - Culture can be good if you're involved with the right people - Fun office events & seasonal parties

      Cons

      In my opinion, the company’s manifesto is misleading when it comes to its ‘people-first’ mentality. While this is heavily promoted both internally and externally, in practice there’s a noticeable lack of genuine care for employee wellbeing and day-to-day support. People are often overworked and significantly underpaid, yet still expected to perform at consistently high levels. Progression is extremely slow and pay rises are underwhelming. A constant review culture, combined with managers who regularly shift the goalposts, creates an environment where employees are pushed to operate well above their level under the guise of 'proving themselves' — often without recognition or reward. The workplace has a strong sense of hierarchy and a noticeable culture of blame, which undermines collaboration and trust. It’s not uncommon for individuals — including line managers — to deflect responsibility or throw others under the bus to protect their own image. In my opinion, there was a very intense and overwhelming 'cliquey' and 'mean girl' energy amongst senior members of the People Team which, from my standpoint, contributed to their lack of credibility to properly deliver a service to the rest of the company. Overall, this is a company that seems far more concerned with its image than with actually supporting its people.

      avatar
      SMG Response
      1y
      Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We’re disheartened to hear about your experience and that you felt unsupported during your time at SMG. Your perspective is important, and we're sorry to hear that elements of your experience fell short of the values we strive to uphold. We acknowledge your concerns about wellbeing, progression, pay, and support. We understand that feeling overworked or undervalued can have a significant impact, and we’re continuing to listen and evolve how we support our people, from reviewing workload, to improving the transparency of our progression frameworks. We’ve increased and overhauled our management training and strive to foster a culture where feedback, accountability, and collaboration are constructive and fair at every level. We’re also saddened to hear your impression of the People Team and your experience of the team culture. This is not what we want for anyone at SMG. We are actively working to create an inclusive and respectful workplace where everyone can feel a sense of belonging, and we will take this feedback seriously as part of our continuous improvement. That said, we’re pleased you found value in some of our benefits, office culture, and events — we know how important these moments of connection and recognition are, and we’ll continue to build on them. If you’d like to discuss your experience further, please do reach out to a member of our People Team.

      Explore other reviews about SMG

      5.0
      17 Apr 2025
      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      People are really engaged and excited to collaborate. The management are really open and honest about the company and always willing to give up their time

      Cons

      Hours can be long, however it always feels like this is rewarded.

      1
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      SMG Response
      1y
      Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We’re really pleased to hear that you've had such a positive experience at SMG and that our collaborative culture and open communication from leadership have stood out during your time here. We’re especially glad to hear that you feel supported and that the energy and engagement of your colleagues continue to make a meaningful difference, our people are at the heart of what makes SMG a great place to work.
      3.0
      29 May 2026
      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      - Similar-minded colleagues make an enjoyable work environment. - Flexible working schedule is useful. - Managers offer freedom to develop, and work autonomously. - Good progression opportunities (only if you're lucky).

      Cons

      - The workload is AWFUL. You see it mentioned on almost every review on here, spanning years back, and they provide the same response about how they're working on it or actively looking at it. I can assure you that is a complete and utter lie. They do absolutely nothing to try and make workloads manageable, as they are constantly trying to cut costs, streamline teams, and most recently force redundancies and pay freezes. They may act performative on LinkedIn professing how much they care about your wellbeing, but they most definitely do not take any steps to make the job manageable within the time you have, and therefore everybody is stressed out and overworked. (I am sure they will provide the same banal AI-generated response here about how they're committed to making workloads more manageable, or something along those lines. Don't believe them.) - Base salaries are not competitive (partly why there's such high turnover). £33k for a Senior Executive role in London is terrible. You will also struggle to progress from there in most teams. - Disorganisation. Processes are convoluted, tedious, and waste lots of time. Too much admin & trivial nonsense is a large reason why the workload is too high (they have no idea how to solve this by the way).

      1
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      SMG Response
      3d
      Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed feedback and for your contribution during your time at SMG. We're pleased to hear that you valued the support of your colleagues, the flexibility available, and the autonomy provided by managers to help people develop in their roles. Creating an environment where people can do their best work is something we deeply care about. We also recognise the concerns you've raised around workload, processes, and remuneration. We understand that these areas can have a significant impact on employee experience, and we're sorry to hear that this was your experience during your time with us. As our business continues to evolve, we regularly review how work is prioritised, how teams are structured, and how our processes support people in delivering great work as effectively as possible. We appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective and wish you every success in the future.
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