Politics and Who you Know - Anonymous employee Agilent Technologies Employee Review

- Every manager in the upper echelons says "our pay is competitive with the current market". It's a lie, blatant and bold-faced. - Management top-heavy, from the TOP down to team managers. With this many managers running around, often multiple teams are doing the same work without aware of the other. Communication is neither encouraged nor managed. - Maybe a handful of managers actually know what their employees are doing, let alone how to do their job for them. If I want guidance on how to read, why would I want an illiterate looking over my shoulder "coaching" me? - It's obvious it's who you know. If you're friends with someone who's broken into the Management circle, getting promoted is really easy. If not, or worse someone in the inner circle doesn't like you, then good luck advancing beyond un-appreciated drone. - Fluff. They believe that by having silly distractions those who work the front-line will forget that they're a number. Casual dress, community clubs, washable marker walls, etc are pointless if all you're doing is trying to paint over the bullet hole in the wall. No one is fool, and those who are belong flipping burgers - $ oritented. True, what company isn't? However, when opinions are based solely on how much $ was brought in by their team, regardless if they know what they're doing, then there's something wrong. - Movement is like a marathon run with obstacles. Regardless of qualifications, if you don't know the right people, have the right recommendations, and kiss the right back-sides, you're not likely to move anytime soon. And if you're a valuable asset in your current spot, management won't take into consideration about your personal growth. Their numbers and team performance are more important, and if that means you stay in the same spot forever, carrying a majority of work, then that's where you stay. Watch for words like "Super Star" and the like to cover up the truth. - Tools and system resources to perform day to day duties are subpar, at best. And when requests for IT to investigate are done, it's either half-assed or "this is in the pipeline, but not as important as other items, so here's a free coffee coupon instead" - Rather than remove the slackers, parasites, and poor performers, the company keeps them around and either ignores them entirely or shuffles them around. They'd rather keep a rotting branch than risk growing a new tree, often times with those who've been around countless years and truly need to leave. Seriously. In order to be fired, there's either got to be porn on the net involved or you smacked someone on the backside....because if your performance is dragging everyone else down, your job is still safe so long as you've either been here forever or are friends with brass. - Office Space - Every year, a new catch phrase...but don't worry. It will be irrelevant in 8 mths. - If you're in management or one of the Sales reps out in the field, bringing in the big money, you're free to be as rude, disrespectful, back stabbing, deceitful, and all around dispicable as you like....if you're not, be prepared to be on the receiving end of the above, be prepared to be helpless when it happens, and be on the watch for those few people in those positions who DON'T do this and make friends with them quick, because there aren't many. - Freedom of Thought, Fresh Ideas, and Speaking your Mind is not welcome here. Forget rocking the boat, if you so much as shift a finger out of step with the rest, you're immediately under the microscope. If it's a good idea, someone above you will claim it and give you a piece of paper in return. If it's a bad idea, it'll be logged as a complaint and filed under "Coaching Opportunity" - Is your manager a bad person? Are they horrible in their position? Would you sooner follow a blind man off a cliff? Too bad. They're friends with the right people, including their own boss, and when you complain up the chain, you better have that resume updated.