Skip to contentSkip to footer
      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      ZEAL Creative

      Engaged employer

      ZEAL Creative Reviews

      3.9

      73% would recommend to a friend

      (15 total reviews)

      Stewart Hilton

      100% approve of CEO

      100% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.4

      Career opportunities

      4.1

      Culture and values

      4.0

      Senior management

      3.7

      Work/Life balance

      3.7

      Compensation and benefits

      3.3

      Diversity and inclusion

      ZEAL Creative has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 15 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The ZEAL Creative employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      15 reviews
      1.0
      10 Mar 2023

      Toxic culture, bad pay and long hours

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Good socials Exposure to clients

      Cons

      The salaries for more junior roles are laughably low considering the amount of hours and responsibility you are expected to put in, yet is offered as "competitive". Pay rises are non-existent. You are expected to go above and beyond in your role to take on more responsibility from managers/directors in your team, however when it suits them they make up reasons why you aren't ready to progress. There are huge issues with favouritism and a bullying, toxic culture. Senior people have shouted at people across the office in front of everyone. The contracted hours were until 5:30pm however it's the norm to work until at least 6pm, and even then if you finished at 6pm you felt like you were being judged for simply leaving on time. Socialising after work is impossible because you never know if you will finish at a reasonable time. You're expected to hang around even if you have nothing urgent to do. Sometimes I'm still sending emails at 8-9pm. Apart from the lack of work/life balance, this also sets a really bad precedent to clients. Pitches and new projects are taken on without consulting the full team to check it can be properly resourced. Deliverables are promised within an unrealistic timeframe and there were times my team were online until midnight preparing for a client presentation the following day, with little to no acknowledgement or recognition. Time in lieu was of course never offered following situations like this. When in the office you are expected to work pretty much with a constant smile on your face putting on a performance of how much of a "positive individual" you are. It's so forced and unnatural.

      avatar
      ZEAL Creative Response
      3y
      Hi there, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review on Glassdoor. We appreciate all feedback, both positive and constructive, as it helps us identify areas where we can improve and create a better work environment for our employees. We are sorry to hear your time with us wasn't entirely positive and take your concerns seriously. While we appreciate that this review was made some time ago, we still very much welcome the opportunity to learn from this experience. Would you be open to connecting with our Head of People & Talent at ali@zealcreative.com for a confidential conversation? Thank you again for your feedback. We look forward to hearing from you if you'd like to discuss this further.
      2.0
      9 Oct 2022

      Fun socials but bad pay for long hours

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      90% of the company are lovely Good range of clients Good social events

      Cons

      Wage - the salaries for graduates and more junior positions are ridiculously low for what they call "competitive" - other agencies I know pay at least 5k more for the same position. I think this is why they organize so much fun stuff etc because they know people would just leave otherwise. The hours are really long and they told me in the interview process that you only work your normal hours (9-6) but this is really not the case, I feel I don't stop working (sometimes till 9-11 pm I can finally put my laptop away) On days we are in the office it will get to finish time and no one moves and you feel you have to stay. I will get texts to my personal phone, and emails all evening and on weekends. I have even worked Sunday evenings many many times. I find socializing hard cos I never know what time I will finish, it gives me anxiety every time I have something planned after work because I don't know if I will actually make it. I had to leave my sports club cos it started at 6.30 pm and I never had time. I don't even feel I can switch off at weekends anymore. There is progression, and if you do well you can get promoted once a year, or even more if you are well-liked. However, the higher you get the more responsibility you get so it feels like there is no way out of the poor work balance. I stay because I have some good friends here and the work is good and there is progression, however, I think life is too short to work this much and have such a poor work/life balance.

      avatar
      ZEAL Creative Response
      3y
      Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss a number of the points you’ve raised, and work with you to positively address. As you know we have an open door policy for anyone to raise concerns at any time and we always have time to listen - be that the Founders, HR or your Manager. However, without you raising these issues with us we can’t help - so please do come and give us the opportunity to discuss. On the points raised about salary for the more junior members of the team, we would respectfully disagree as we take time and effort to regularly benchmark salaries to ensure we remain competitive. We also take lots of feedback via our regular engagement surveys, and take action based on what you, the team, tell us on issues such as pay and benefits. Our policies are focused towards a good work-life balance - whether that be early finishes on a Friday, lots of extra holiday, hybrid working or simply taking time for yourself to go to the gym. If you give us the chance we can address your concerns and we’d encourage you to take the opportunity to do this.
      1.0
      6 Jul 2024

      Toxic environment - like an all girls high school

      Account manager
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Work from home benefits and some of the people can be nice

      Cons

      very toxic environment where everyone is chasing the next promotion rather than supporting one and another. witnessed a lot of micromanaging and really low salaries when expected to do a lot.

      avatar
      ZEAL Creative Response
      1y
      Hi there, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review on Glassdoor. We appreciate all feedback, both positive and constructive, as it helps us identify areas where we can improve and create a better work environment for our employees. We are sorry to hear your time with us wasn't entirely positive and take your concerns seriously. We'd love the opportunity to learn more about your experience and discuss ways we can address specific concerns, in order to continue bettering the experience of our people. Would you be open to connecting with our Head of People & Talent at ali@zealcreative.com for a confidential conversation? Thank you again for your feedback. We look forward to hearing from you if you'd like to discuss this further. The ZEAL Talent Team
      Viewing 1 - 3 of 15 Reviews
      Related searches: ZEAL Creative jobs | ZEAL Creative salaries | ZEAL Creative benefits | ZEAL Creative interviews
      ReviewsZEAL Creative reviews

      Glassdoor has 15 ZEAL Creative reviews submitted anonymously by ZEAL Creative employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if ZEAL Creative is right for you.