Could Be Better, But It's Getting Worse
Pros
The company is filled with hard working and passionate employees. Overall, the culture is positive and creative. When I was first employed it was a fun environment and there was a lot of hope that I would be able to advance my career. Employee benefits are fairly decent with health care, 401k and education reimbursement.
Cons
Lately, there have been a lot of cons. The fun environment in the beginning had quickly turned sour and left me looking for other opportunities within the company. I had the same experience when I moved to another part of the company. Management is poor and leadership does not know how to effectively communicate through middle management or to their employees. Even the good managers are challenged with the support needed to lead their teams to be successful. If you have a bad manager (as I do) it will become a nightmare to perform your job because you do not have any support or guidance. Getting promoted within the company is nearly impossible if you don't have a higher manager that "takes you under their wing" and you spend a lot of time playing politics and brown nosing. If you are a hard worker that does your job well, you will not be noticed or advance. In the 10 years I have worked for Bose, I have asked numerous managers for help with improving my skills and advancing my career, only to be told to work harder and "something will happen". My current manager has a hands off approach and can't be bothered to support the employees he manages. I am a field employee, and in the past 24 months my manager has spent no more than 5 days working with me in my market. When confronted with the issue, he does not accept responsibility or make an effort to change. Account managers and senior leadership have a drink the kool aid and head in the sand approach. They only want to hear positive feedback about products, fixtures, and activities. If any negative feedback is given, they will downplay and deflect any issues and basically ignore it. The most frustrating part is the inability to provide feedback about my manager's poor performance. It really does seem like the company is poorly mismanaged and decisions are made reactively without much thought. I had interviewed for a different position in the company. One of the interviews required me to travel to another part of the country, spending company money on a flight, a hotel and my meals. I am sure there were multiple candidates that had gone through the same process as I had. In the end, I was notified by email that someone from "above" decided to put the position on hold for 6 months. Even the hiring manager wasn't aware that this decision was being considered beforehand. I don't understand how a company that is trying to implement "lean" business practices would waste time and resources like this.
