Pros
Somehow, Ford is able to land name-brand clients with world-wide recognition. When you inevitably start looking for other positions, leverage that brand awareness to help secure another position. The company operates with little to no debt so you can be sure your paycheck will come in. But, there is hardly any debt because ownership doesn't believe in updating computers or equipment, forces employees to share software licenses and hardly provide any modern amenities.
Cons
The culture is the absolute epitome of a toxic environment. Instead of doing an honest, internal evaluation of improving the company's culture, they point at the employees and ask "what's wrong with you?" and not "what's wrong with us?" Look no further than how senior management views Glassdoor. The COO scoffs at the mention of this site because employees (past and present) publicly voice their displeasure. Instead of trying to organically improve their ratings, HR/Marketing reach out to newly promoted individuals, recently reviewed employees or long-tenured employees to give a favorable review. It's not a self-aware culture that is interested in improving, it's an organization hell-bent on maintaining the status quo. Since early 2020, the company has turned over 25%+ of its workforce and is a revolving door for new hires. The HR department isn't focused on bettering employees but are more focused on adding fresh meat to the grinder and being the Ford's watchdog. When my first child was born, I used PTO for several days and had cleared working from home for a few more days with two managers. There wasn't an issue with working from home until I returned to the office. When I returned onsite, an HR employee came to my office and apologized because HR neglected to inform me of my FMLA rights prior to being out. I casually said it was fine and explained I took PTO and worked from home. As soon as I mentioned work from home, I was asked who approved it and I said two supervisors. She left and within 5 minutes, I received a call from the Director of HR about how that was wrong and interrogating me. Again, Ford is not a forward thinking company that thinks about its' employees. In my department, I had 4 bosses in less than 4 years. Two of the managers quit because they were worn out with dealing with the Ford, the copious amounts of red tape and the micro-management. The amount of bullying towards the Marketing department is ridiculous and morale killing and it starts with the Fords. The attitude towards that department trickles down from the top and you have Division Managers, Account Managers and employees in the job center (and their children) who feel empowered to disparage and antagonize Marketing with no recourse. We were encouraged to speak our mind openly and honestly in one meeting and several of us did. The very next meeting, we were informed the Fords were not happy with us speaking about issues with other employees. From that point further, everyone in the Marketing department deemed it vital to not share any thoughts, opinions or concerns in all of the recorded meetings because what you say can, and will, be held against you. To further illustrate the antagonistic and micro-level management of the company, I received a call from Claire Ford one day accusing me of time card fraud. She reviews time cards for employees and can't follow proper channels to inquire or gather information. She couldn't understand how a process could take so long because she thought it would be a button click. After an in-depth call with her and my supervisor which included a real-time demonstration, she left without offering an apology or any form of remorse for her faulty claim, but I never heard wind of another complaint on her part. I especially appreciated my spouse being present during the first part of the call to hear her slanderous claims. I was encouraged to quit on the spot. The company's compensation and benefits package is out of date and is hardly comparable to most companies, let alone the technology industry. There is only paid time off, no split between vacation/sick time. The PTO accrual rate is abysmal to the point where you need to be there over five years in order to have over 2 weeks of time off. Be prepared to be overworked as a salary employee. Ford does not think of salaried employees as working 40 hours a week. Salaried employees are expected to work 5, 8 hour days. If you work less than 7.25 hours a day, your PTO will be automatically docked to make the amount to 8. The company doesn't take into account extra hours worked during days and/or weekends. If you work a 12 hour day, you still are required to work 4 more, 8 hour days. We've had to travel for events on Sundays and that time did not contribute to your work week. Unless you're hourly, be aware that you're going to be taken advantage of as a salaried employee. Job Center employees have an avenue for profit sharing that is unavailable to corporate employees. The profit sharing that is available to all employees is flat out laughable. In order to receive "units of participation," you have to be there a full calendar year, despite your hire date. Then, when you do receive UOP, you have to wait 7 years before you're able to receive a portion of it because they split it into thirds. So to recap, when you receive UOP, you have to wait 7,8,9 years to receive the full portion. It's an underhanded tactic designed to give off the impression of profit sharing, but either depriving employees of earned profit sharing when they depart the company or enslave people to remaining with Ford for the duration of their career since they only way to receive your full amount is to retire. The 401k contribution is capped at 2.5%, but you have to wait 7 years for the employee contribution to fully vest. So if you leave before that, you lose those funds. The compensation scale is laughable considering for corporate positions, they want to pay entry-level wages in the Oklahoma City market for employees with several years of experience. Several notes about pay that you need to be absolutely aware of. - They base things off of Oklahoma City, where the Fords are located - You will not receive regular pay raises and/or reviews; they are arbitrary and some long tenured employees have only received a couple of raises - ONLY engineers are guaranteed consistent raises. Jim Ford is an engineer so they hold the position in reverence - They will not re-evaluate your pay based on what they hire new people at. I've seen several instances where new hires with less/similar experience are hired at higher rates than "senior" level positions. The benefits and work/life balance of the company are archaic and unlike most packages you see in today's workforce.
