But when you move up in the company, you discover that the systems are broken, it is very hard to actually get things done, and there is a huge disconnect between upper management and the people that actually need to do the work.
Upper management's expectation are very high, often unrealistically high. Univar has been focused on increasing gross margins. You can only push suppliers so much to give you lower prices, so Univar has chosen to cut costs. They do this by reducing Opex i.e. letting go of people, combined by letting go of low-margin business. So overall sales are down, off set by lower Opex. The stock market doesn't care, because the ratios are better.
Management (SN, DJ, GF, RC etc.) try to spin this as positive, but most employees that have been there for a while are disillusioned, angry and scared to lose their job. Bonus objectives are very hard to reach, so bonuses have been disappointing. But please do check the SEC filings and you will see the bonuses the aforementioned gentlemen are able to get for themselves.
It's very sad. Univar should be a fantastic company to work for. They have an extensive infrastructure - branches everywhere - (except for the antiquated UVX computer system) and very good people on the ground. They have great support from their suppliers and customers (they almost cannot get around them). But somehow, the company manages to screw it all up. For a long time I was very happy at Univar but became disillusioned along the way. The environment is just too toxic. I was sorry to leave but am very happy where I landed - as are most ex-Univar employees I still keep in touch with.
