Lutron Electronics reviews

Unfortunately, the 83 year old founder of the company still runs things. And little has changed in the management practices, policies, and organization since he founded the company by inventing the first solid state dimmer switch in the early 60's. The founder surrounds himself with enablers who he trusts, and they in turn carry out his whims--and rarely, if ever, tell him "no." There is no strategic planning to speak of, and while R and D is a strength, there is little development based on market needs. Market research is non-existent. Human Resources is actually called "Personnel," and not surprisingly, there is no professional HR leadership in the areas of compensation, organizational effectiveness, career development, and performance management. Further, the organization is completely decentralized, and organizations spring up or disappear based on the priority of the month. There is little understanding by senior leadership of the value of strategic Information Technology, so the network infrastructure is stuck in the 90s. Lastly, in keeping with management practices of the 60s, there is very little effective communications from senior leadership to employees.

Aging upper management / ownership is content in operating as a 1960's company and refuses to adopt forward thinking ways instilling the unwritten philosophy that "the engineer is always right" (this applies to marketing, sales, personnel, etc. with disastrous results). No real advancement opportunities, miserly raises, infrequent and extremely incremental promotions. Lutron employees are looked upon as a collection of chess pieces, often hired from well known corporations or with excellent credentials but the company fails to utilize these people to their strengths and will repurpose individuals outside of their expertise, believing that successes translate to vastly different tasks. Questionable "leaders" with poor to non-existant management and employee development skills. Lutron fails to understand how to keep talented individuals from leaving (currently a large issue) and employee moral high. Lutron can be an extremely stressful place to work, individuals are expected to come early and stay late (beyond the scope of the typical 8-5 day) with no real concern for personal lives of employees. Employee feedback to the upper management means nothing, and will always fall on deaf ears. Lutron operates in its own bubble and fails to react to market demands, choosing rather to build "toys" for the aging ownership - often leading to questionable product and undermining company bottom line. This translates to excuses for the lack of raises (salary freeze) and bonuses for the masses. To recap, horrendous management with extremely inept leaders, no advancement and low pay, very stressful environment. Stay away if you value your career or until massive changes take place.