I've had the opportunity to work in several functional areas around the company over the 6+ years I've been there and although each department had its own culture, one thing remained the same...big corporate politics ruled. If you enjoy having meetings to discuss the next meeting, and progress moves slower than snails, then you may like it here. Nothing moves fast here and it's likely because middle management doesn't have a clue. (Managers up to Directors) I've never worked for an organization as siloed as Grainger. Getting anything done requires talking to 7 or more people. Management is consistently turning over - likely the reason why they don't know anything - and people are promoted based on popularity, not fully on performance. In Supply Chain, they've had at least 5 Directors in the last for years. Where's the continuity? It's hard to follow a vision when there isn't one. In Product Management, arrogance rules. Everyone keeps info to themselves in hopes of being the one to have the "grand idea." Look out for yourself there because your DPP won't support you. In Credit/Collections, putting unqualified people in manager roles is the true theme there. They don't understand the concept of "it's a good thing to communicate with your direct staff of supervisors and indirect reports." Overall, the senior leaders (VP level and above) seem to get it. It's their direct staff who can't carry out the basic needs of managing their functional areas. Grainger offers a lot of job opportunities, but be forewarned, these jobs are very typically focused on one or two functions and are not wholistic like you may expect from a smaller company.
