HEINEKEN USA FAQ

This company creates a tight family. You will Love working with all the Heineken people you get the chance to meet. The benefits are great. I know from having friends who were expecting they get 12 weeks and dads also get long paternity leave. Sales reps get a car so that’s helpful, when I was let go I was offered to purchase it at a great Value but opted out. Everyone bleeds green!

The reason I decided to write this two years later was because once again they just did a re-structure now due to COVID and heard of many of my friends got let go and great people that were extremely talented and kept people that have HR records and are not good people. Employee beware the amount of restructure that has gone through every year and sometimes mid year is excessive. Unless you are mobile which I unfortunately wasn’t... be scared for your job every year because they can’t seem to keep the right people and they can’t seem to get their structure cohesive for more than 1 year at a time.

Transparent and supportive culture Interest in professional/personal development Perks - company car for sales, beer allowance, ample of time off Lots of independence, at least when company performance is decent

Lack of direction/direction changed every 6 weeks starting in October 2018 Insurmountable loss of market share and brand relevance. Bonuses convoluted, impossible to hit. Company doesn't want to pay out when you do meet your KPIs if they were losing money in another part of the country. Marketing pushes programs around "growth" trends like soccer and boxing, with no quantifiable ROI from investing in these programs. Relationship with distributor network increasingly strained due to constant re-strategizing and goals that do not align.

Yes, the beer industry is suffering as a whole, but think long and hard of why Heineken and its brands were a success in the US market in the first place. (Hint: premier European import - a platform Stella Artois is successfully co-opting) Reassess your target market - not every Hispanic in the United States is a Mexican who wants to drink Tecate or Dos Equis. Mostly Central Americans on the east coast with allegiance to their origin country's brands. Perhaps readdress key demographics for each brand based on what actually goes on in the market? Stop outsourcing social media. Instagram, Facebook, etc are a mess! We are one of the only leading suppliers who don't have relevant sponsored content within the US market. You want to appeal to millennials? They're online, not in retail. SEM technology is not applicable to individual markets. Different needs for different areas, you can't judge based on a underdeveloped technology that does not directly create or support ROI. As a result, salesforce manipulates information on SEM. Hire an American CEO who understands the needs of import consumers in the US

Many good employees are scattered around the organization, some of the best I have ever worked with. These individuals do amazing work that stretch beyond what they are asked and are some of the best people I have ever worked with. Relatively easy access to executives, and the brands have historical potential (they still have some brand value generating future potential). Certain executives are supportive but are shielded from issues by their direct reports.

There is no talent development. There is no rhyme or reason on how to move around in the organization, create a career path, or get meaningful feedback. Promotions make little to no sense, being provided to people in low impact areas that just happen to inflate the ego of certain Sr. Directors or above, while those left picking up the slack are cemented in their positions and are told "they are lucky to have a job in this economy." Also, the innovation team somehow generates no value, but continue to be applauded for "looking" at things and being behind the rest of the industry.

Understand what you are, the continuous analogy that was used about acting like a "speed boat" vs a "cruise ship" is tired and invalid when it takes multiple years to react to any market condition. Also expecting a reorg to solve all the issues when you give it 6 months to work is absurd (4 reorgs in my two years). Reward those who are providing value and exceeding actual expectations, rather than just trying to boost your own ego.

Great pay, great benefits, plenty of promotional opportunities given hard work

Goals and targets across different departments can create internal conflicts; opportunity for better alignment across organization

-Family atmosphere -Good Benefits -Flexible hours -Good Teamwork

-No communication between departments -No leadership or direction for company -Constant turnover -Bonus goals are basically unattainable -