Like the situation at many large companies, an employee's hard work may be overlooked when your manager does not take the time to identify which employees are most productive. Younger employees may not receive early promotions to reward exceptional work, as it is easier for many managers to just promote staff based on "years of service" vs. performance. There are cash bonusses available to reward good work -- but again, it depends on whether your boss takes the time to do the paperwork and identify deserving staff. So some groups regularly get cash rewards -- and other groups with a different manager, don't get these bonusses. At GD you need to tell your boss when you have done something exceptional, rather than counting on your manager to find it out. If you keep management up to date on what you are doing and when you have done great work, you are more likely to be rewarded. Regarding upper management, GD does need to be more agressive about pursuing new business. GD has backed off from a few pursuits that we could have won because management seems to be only pursuing the "sure bets." With government spending on Defense starting to slow down and less programs being funded, GD needs to go after all the new programs it can credibly do.
