I could go on in diatribes on why this company is dreadful. Those in charge refuse to fix its toxic culture, invest in quality employees (and rid of not-so-quality employees) or update technologies. The company performs well financially and sells quality products and services but legacy employees combined with outdated and/or nonexistent procedures and controls and other shortfalls make it a deplorable workplace:
- Dress code: inconsistent and outdated. At head office, men (excluding technicians) have to wear ties unless you're in IT, the branch downstairs, or if you decide you don't want to and you're in a position to refuse. Otherwise you'll have to invest in a prehistoric dress item reserved for weddings and funerals (hint: no one's getting married there). Women get away with more casual dress for some reason unbeknown. Remember: this is a company located in industrial Mississauga that sells lift trucks to customers for warehouse applications. Even the big banks downtown are outlawing ties unless you're on the trading floor or client facing.
-Computer systems: majority of the office was using MS Office 2008 and Navision 2006/2009 on refurbished desktops and laptops that are 5+ years old. Suffice to say, sluggish and unresponsive given the volume of data that is processed daily. Head Office in New Bremen has mandated Office 365 be installed but not without resistance of people unwilling to learn something new so it is a continuous struggle. In addition, a lot of work is manual and takes a long time to produce as a result of people who aren't computer savvy with said systems.
-Pay/benefits: Below industry/economy standard. There is no bonus or incentive system, no discount on product (not that you'd need a forklift) and the pension contribution from the employer is so low because it is premised on you staying there your entire career. Technicians have left as this is a point of contention. Sales reps have also left because their commissions are not paid timely or in full.
-Gossip: very little you do or do not do goes unnoticed. People tend to stick their noses in business that doesn't concern them. It is especially bad here in my experience.
The turnover statistics and morale speak volumes and as I said, I could go on and on. Unless anything drastic is done or you're in dire straits I wouldn't recommend this as a place to work.
As of January a new CEO has been sworn in, I really hope he turns things around.