Let’s get something straight here. The high ratings and CEO approval are coming from Plexus Worldwide’s independent sales representatives (“Ambassadors”). They are NOT EMPLOYEES. Sadly enough, they have NO CLUE what happens at the corporate office, so they can write on and on about how wonderful of a company Plexus is, and wax-poetic about their beloved Plexus Slim “Pink Drink,” but they don’t see what’s going on behind the scenes. At the corporate office in Scottsdale, there are no performance management goals, yet accountability and blame are arbitrarily assigned...kind of like the duck-shooting gallery at a carnival. In fact, there are no goals for the company AT ALL... other then the expectation to work hard as you can (late nights, weekends, holidays) without any appreciation so the top Ambassadors (“Jewels”) can make tons of money (...while complaining THEY are the ones who are underpaid and overworked...) and the below-average corporate executives can continue to collect their million-dollar paychecks. Each department works independently and purposely hoards information from other teams. Quite frankly, if you are in good with your manager and fawn all over him/her, then you have job security. However, for those who take initiative, offer creative problem-solving and basically try to help the company do better (because there are A LOT of things Plexus can do better!), they are labeled Troublemakers and Poor Performers. Ever heard of “The Handmaid’s Tale?” Well, that pretty much sums up working at Plexus if you’re female and how executives want to manage the company. (Religious beliefs reign supreme at Plexus - like in the Handmaid’s Tale: “Under His Eye...” ) Directors and above are not ranked on performance measures (because there aren’t any!), but rather the attitudes and perceptions the executives have of those in the lower leadership ranks. In addition, there are some questionable hiring practices. Employing young, slender and attractive women is encouraged. Those not fitting this description are dismissed because it doesn’t “look good for Plexus to have old, fat women representing the company.” (Another Handmaid’s Tale reference: These are the “Marthas” or “Unwomen.”) The fact is, the Ambassadors are mostly intelligent, hard-working women and are empowered in the field to make as much money as possible. And, as a multi-level marketing company, Plexus rewards them nicely with lots of fancy jewelry, heaps of money, trips to Hawaii and a new Lexus. (Hooray for the Handmaids!) But that’s only 1% of the field. If you are looking to work at Plexus - and not sign on as an Ambassador - I would make sure you ask in the interview what your job responsibilities are and how much you will be paid. What Plexus likes to do is provide a nebulous job description so when you are finally hired and get into the company, you find that your skill set is reduced to 10% of what you are actually capable of doing. They will also bring you in at a very low salary with the promise of the quarterly profit sharing bonus. However, at the end of each quarter, you’ll also get a warning that the profit sharing is “not always guaranteed.” (But I guarantee the Plexus C-Suite has never gone without a quarterly bonus!) In addition, just know independent, creative thinking is not acceptable by upper management. Perhaps it’s because the people working in the lower ranks are much smarter and have more business savvy than those in the higher positions. And, while Plexus earned a “Best Place to Work” distinction, that is not something widespread in the company. It depends on what department you work for. In my case, I was working for a beauty school
dropout who only knew how to play the victim to the executive boss to get what was needed. What’s really sad is there are a lot of great people who work at Plexus, but it is similar to the “frog in the pot” analogy. If you place a frog in a pot of water and continue to slowly raise the temperature, the frog will eventually boil itself to death because it is so used to the rising temperatures, i.e, daily Plexus shenanigans. However, if you boil the water first, the and try to place the frog into the water, he will immediately jump out. That’s what I suggest to anybody who considers working for Plexus. Bounce out of the boiling pot before it’s too late! This company is disastrously mismanaged and is on a one-way track to extinction. And as they say in the Handmaid’s Tale...”Blessed Be!”