Avantages
If you are coming in to 3M with previous digital expertise, you will notice immediately the need to educate your peers, which can be a good thing, and can become taxing. My particular manager seemed to never be there, so working flex hours was not an issue, but can't speak to other teams. The work load was not too extensive for me, but that may have been due to the in-fighting across teams that allowed very little to get assigned and done. They had a decent web mail client, which, given managers' propensity to answer and send all emails after 8pm was a life saver.
Inconvénients
I would not know where to start here. Most employees have been there for 10-20+ years, so this particular division did not take kindly to outsiders. The in-fighting between teams was so extensive that I was given a list of people to "not respond to via email or phone." I was also told not to attend meetings without approval from my manager to ensure my expertise was not "stolen" by "the enemy." Yuck. I was closed off from projects I offered the most seasoned expertise in, due to senior leadership very much disliking each other. It was disappointing to not get to leverage my expertise in an arena that so badly needed it, and the constant back-stabbing and bad-mouthing of co-workers that started on day one and never stopped made me very uncomfortable. Also, I was constantly asked to tap my network of digital vendors, agencies and resources to produce RFPs or work for 3M at the 11th hour that never went anywhere. Great way to ruin long-standing working relationships outside of the company. I was not aware of anyone who seemed "happy" working there compared to other companies I have worked for. No one smiled, ever. I finally had to start working on projects without telling my manager just to ensure I was doing anything at all and that I was helping them from spending way too much for way too little or just simply doing something not aligned with their audience/customer needs. From a sheer "company" perspective, the oddities at 3M Healthcare were endless. There were no refrigerators for employees to store lunch, beverages, etc. It may not sound like a big deal - try it sometime. The lunchroom was open very briefly every day, and offered the worst, most unhealthy and expensive selection of food (if you got there in time to get any) I have ever seen, anywhere. To avoid waste, they provided less food than needed, and anything edible was gone immediately. There's nothing but fast food around there, so going off-site was not a better option. I spent my first three days literally sitting in an empty cube with no computer (which can be typical) but also with nothing to read, ramp-up on, or anyone coming by to say hello or get me situated, manager included. I had to train myself on all systems and getting logins to do so was far more frustrating and time-consuming than usual. The commute is horrid, too, unless you live out that way. There was no discernible process to anything, and trying to instill any was futile. I had to ask folks many times for things they'd promised to deliver, to little avail. I never really knew what I was supposed to be working on, what would come up as "due" at any time, or what would be summarily cancelled or taken off my plate - all of this was due to politics. I spent more time in meetings about projects that never moved forward (or that at least our team was "kicked off of") than in meetings about viable projects. I attempted to address all of these issues over and over, to no result, and ended up having to print and save the nasty emails between teams their managers to ensure I was never "blamed" for something I was not involved in. Not fun. It might be fine for folks that have been there forever, and other divisions may be more advanced in their collaboration and politicking skills not to mention digital savvy. I didn't stay long enough to find out. I actually saw one person start and quit within a week while I was there. If you offer valuable expertise and have worked for other companies be ready for a massive culture shock.