They've really fallen behind the times. Salary and benefits used to be some of the best in NE Ohio but are now just average. Many other companies are now offering free or low-cost health care like CRT, but the other company's bonuses are better, as well as their educational benefits (even including CRT's "university"), 401k matching, disability insurance, employee assistance programs, day care, etc. They love to tell their employees they have some of the best benefits in the area and that they are "one of the largest companies in area", none of which is close to true. I don't think they're intentionally lying; they just honestly don't know. But what is holding the company back is its senior management, many of them have worked there for most, if not all, of their entire careers. They themselves think they're doing great, but they have no idea, and they wouldn't make it at another company. The biggest example of this is the work load they put on their employees is just absurd, yet they think it is normal. It wouldn't be so bad, but senior management then changes companywide priorities constantly and expects mid-level employees to mind read this and follow suit. There is no benefit to attempting to finish a project, because it will change five times and then be abandoned and forgotten about. Many times, you will get in trouble for working on last month's project, because something hotter popped up. Never work on the most important thing, instead work on the most recent thing, that’s all that matters. Another huge con is the hypocrisy of their motto "trust and fairness". In one easy example, they don't trust salary employees to be there when needed, instead they require them to clock in and out for their shift, even for lunch. If you work a 12-hour day (without overtime), you need to get your boss's permission to work less than 8 the next day to make up for it. There is no such thing as comp time, and you be written up for being a minute late. I’m not even sure if that’s legal. Another example of the lack of trust is that all decisions must go through senior management. If you want a stapler, the president must sign off on that. If you want to put something on a wall, the president must sign off on that. God help you if call a vendor without senior management giving you permission, but most likely they will tell you no and they will do it for you then take credit for it. Finally, is lack of caring. Famously, one employee had cancer and was told by senior management that he needed to "take care of this in his off-hours". The hypocrisy of fairness comes in when you realize none of this apply to them because are all family friends or relatives of the owner and are as untouchable as they are incompetent. The company loves to hire young people because they don't know any better, but once they hit their late 20s, they realize how bad the company is and leave. The place isn't horrible if you are just starting your career and it’s a good steppingstone to something better. It’s not the exceptional company they think it is.
