Local Leadership Abusive to Salaried Employees
Pros
Significant personnel reductions since Koch acquisition (2005) provide exceptional opportunities for new college graduates to take on responsibility far beyond their experience. Front line employees for the most part are conscientious, hard working, and keep the faciility operating safely and productively in spite of poor leadership.
Cons
Compensation increases and bonuses are virtually non-existant for salaried employees. Work hours for salaried employees are long and unpredictable (constant middle of the night call outs). The 10 guiding principles of Charles Koch's Market Based Management (MBM) are Integrity, Compliance, Value Creation, Principled Entrepreneurship, Customer Focus, Knowledge, Change, Humility, Respect, and Fulfillment. It appears that local management attempts to "maximize value creation" by maximizing hours of salaried employees without comp time or any other form of compensation. The result is an extremely stressful environment for salaried employees, which is getting worse as strong contributors are finding better opportunities in the marketplace. The guiding principle of Humility is clearly not followed - it is career limiting to challenge senior leadership (the "challenge process" is supposed to be supported). Respect for subordinates is low as evidenced by verbal abuse in meetings. When combined this makes achieving fulfillment in one's role difficult. My advice to anyone considering salaried employment with Georgia-Pacific (particularly in this location) and likely many of the other GP manufacturing facilities is to understand what you are getting into - long, unpredictable hours and little chance of compensation increases or bonuses, and negotiate your income and benefits accordingly.at a level you will be satisfied with for however long you expect to remain employed here. Join the operation to gain experience in an intense environment, but plan your exit strategy well.
