Pros
I write this review from my time as a regional sales manager. I really enjoyed working for a family company vs. stockholders. Your success supports the legacy and heritage of the founder. Its a noble mission helping the family legacy to grow. While CEO's come and go always tweaking things to maximize their bonuses before their exit, when you work for a family the long term approach is always considered. In the evolution of IKO there was plenty of opportunity to make decisions and take on responsibilities not given in other companies. As a regional manager I ran my Region and was responsible for most of the decisions in the region. It allowed us to adapt and offered flexibility unmatched by our competitors. Had a great team of people. sales people were focused and did an excellent job with the customers. The marketing department responded to regional needs, a strength vs. our national competitors. Everyone in the sales department had exposure to the owner of the company. You had the opportunity to communicate feedback to the owners. If you needed a key decision from the owner. After you communicated the pertinent information you could get immediate response. The owner would make large changes if he agreed it was the rite move. I see the friction balancing the needs of the business vs. the individual benefit. Compensation was fair at my level, they would have national sales meeting in nice locations. They were 95% meeting and 5% time with coworkers catching up. They gave you the tools to succeed and we did. We pioneered the market and established the company as a leader. Overall as a manager I really enjoyed my time at IKO, I worked with some exceptional people and I think highly of the owners.
Cons
As all companies do they evolve, and not all changes are for individual benefit. Change is a constant and not all the moves are good ones. I think as they moved forward they were slower to correct the wrong moves. They would always change but with a larger growing company it took a while for some decisions to be corrected. There is a balance between the family company and its strengths and the international corporation and its need for systems and policies.
