Pros
Innovation driven, easy-going workplace at times
Cons
· Engineers are highly over-worked and we don’t seem to bring in any new hires to assist in that workload. On top of that, upper management consistently pushes new projects onto the group, knowing full and well that we are overloaded as is. · Our documentation and record-keeping process needs a complete overhaul. No form is easy to find, no process is easy to grasp, and no procedure is readily available to be understood. I constantly must dig through our drives just to find something. And it is constantly moving around or disappearing without notice. To say that it is a complete waste of precious time to go on a hunt to find these things, is a huge understatement. · We don’t properly train new hires in the processes and procedures of this company. I am still to this day (after 3yrs), confused about what steps we take in order to get a project completed. I guess I simply need to go digging around our drives for hours on-end until I find the proper procedure document… · We are not allowed to formally work from home but we are expected to do work from home if we ran out of time during the day which is ridiculous. You can’t have both. · Morale is extremely low and everyone loves to point fingers or pass the blame without taking any responsibility · You are expected to automatically know how to run a test, or operate a device, or what have you without ever being formally or properly trained. I guess digging around on the servers for days on end suffices as training. · Emerson is consistently behind the curve when it comes to progressive work policies that could potentially boost morale. Such as working from home, or a better vacation policy. Seems as though we are still stuck in the 1970s even though nowadays we have Webex or email or internet and a VPN. · Management doesn’t seem to do anything but pass blame and load on more work for subordinates. · It doesn’t seem to matter how hard you work here, you will never get recognition for it. But God forbid you slip up and take too long on something, you will make a bad impression forever. · We love to preach fairness but then pander to particular departments and give them special privileges. · We constrain our workers so much but then reprimand them when they don’t get enough done with the tight constraints we put on them. · We pretend to support our people when 28 PEOPLE (I have kept track) have quit, left, or threatened to quit just to receive basic benefits that more and more companies are adopting nowadays. We also tend to lean toward lay-offs when times get tough even though we are a very profitable company and can afford to keep them. Evidently we do not save a dime that we make for those occasions. · Upper management has evidently adopted a “do as I say, not as I do” policy that they follow to a T. They are allowed to act in certain ways that lower level workers just aren’t. · When the pandemic was still ramping up, we decided to go back into the office entirely. Whilst other companies in the area decided to work from home until further notice. That really shows me we support our people. · One of our core values of “continuous improvement” must only apply to making more money for the BU or improving our products because it surely doesn’t apply to our workplace. · The convoluted and vague job descriptions apparently all translate to “every employee needs to take on the work of 5 people and get it done on-time and correctly or otherwise they will be reprimanded.” · Speaking of convoluted and vague – we also expect our new hires to jump right in an understand our convoluted and vague process for getting product out the door (as previously touched on). · We act like we listen to our employees when in fact, all their comments fall on deaf ears. That is, until we see several people leave within a short timeframe. · The engineering department is evidently responsible for doing the work of several different departments, even though those departments are more than capable of doing their own work. And then WE get chastised if we don’t get that workload completed on-time. It’s as if the engineering department is bottom of the rung in this corporate structure. Everything from above, falls on us to do. And then we get hung out to dry when we can’t complete it all on-time. · Upper management’s assessment of the productivity of certain individuals is unfair. They tend to focus on what has NOT been accomplished as opposed to what HAS been accomplished. They can even receive a list of items that have been accomplished by individuals, but the issue is, they need to comprehend it. Seeing and comprehending are two totally different issues. · I do not agree with talent retainment here or promotions. I feel as though we need to re-assess who we promote and who we let go. · We meet way too often to discuss what we would actually get done had we not been stuck in meetings all day every day. · It appears as though it is okay for certain individuals to refuse to work, while those that typically work are required to take on more with no say in the matter. · We waste too much time in training for skills we will NEVER use when we could be using that time training in procedures that would make our day-to-day work less confusing. · We tend to focus too hard on removing the silo’ing of departments without realizing that when we do that, certain departments will begin taking on more of a workload because there is no clear line as to where one person’s responsibilities stop and another’s begins. · I will reiterate – OUR PROCEURES AND TYPICAL PROCESS FOR GETTING PRODUCT OUT THE DOOR ARE VAGUE, CONVOLUTED, AND OVERLY-COMPLICATED. Especially considering we do little to no onboarding. · We tend to say one thing and do another. For instance – core hours are 9a to 3p, but you MUST work 8a to 4:30p however. This is very contradictive and but one of MANY examples of this type of behavior here at Emerson. And in regards to that reference, see the definition of core hours below: · After all these points, we still sit here and wonder why we continue to lose talent to competitors or other organizations entirely. · Upper management consistently plays favorites with certain people · ETC is not usually very accepting as a whole of other people’s styles of learning · We try to force employees to be someone they aren’t and shun them if they don’t follow that. · We focus WAY TOO MUCH on customers and shareholders. Employees come last and that is evident in our policies and "benefits" (if you want to call them that). And then they sit there and ponder why they have lost talented employee after talented employee. · Upper management is absolutely clueless and there is zero indication that it will ever improve.