BD Reviews

Pros

Good benefits and health insurance

Cons

Hours were long and strenuous.

Advice to Senior Management

Work with employees for better work hours

Pros

Some departments have good leaders. They genuinely care about doing a good job and making the company a great place to work. These leaders are inclusive, open and yet demanding in a fair way. Fantastic manufacturing capabilities (not necessarily the cheapest, but quality is excellent)

Cons

Too political & US-centric. Too focused on processes, getting approvals & managing upwards, instead of coming up with the next big thing. The company is resting on the laurels of past glories.

Advice to Senior Management

The leadership does not recognize that it can no longer afford to be US-centric. Leave your comfort zone & see the opportunities in the rest of the world. Must innovate more in marketing & product development.
Senior management (not C-suite) do not want to rock the boat - they do not explore new business opportunities aggressively enough, choosing instead to focus on incremental improvements on existing products. While the leadership team claims to desire innovation, the message is lost along the way as it trickles down the chain of command. The middle managers are risk adverse - the leaders must visibly reward successful risk-taking.

Pros

Great people, great benefits, great products
Work outside life balance depends on who you work for
Financial rewards for those who perform

Cons

Very political environment
Yearly layoffs that never touch the top
Overall employee morale ver low at times
Stagnant projects are allowed to linger

Advice to Senior Management

Need to listen to your employees, not just to your yes men
Treat your employees as assets, not expendable throw aways

Pros

Compensation, benefits package
Opportunity for personal improvement through onsite educational programs in addition
to tuition reinbursement.
Immediate management was excellent, engaging and supportative to career growth.
Convenient Commute

Cons

Upper level employees often appear cold.
Too many layoffs, given profitability and continued growth
Low morale due to fear of job loss.

Advice to Senior Management

Practice core value of Doing What is Right, for employees as well as shareholders.

Pros

Great products and quality make us proud.

Cons

Management turnover and restructures create new priorities every couple of years.

Advice to Senior Management

Fill open positions so those left are not working 2-3 jobs at once.

Pros

There are nice people around, ample career opportunity for various position. With more products transfer to Asia, job security is good, if we could execute well

Cons

Weak organization structure with too many section heads, leading to slow decision making. Lack of long term plan, leading to poor infrastructure setup. Too bureaucratic but no one is making final decision when there are conflict of interest exist across depts

Advice to Senior Management

Think long term, make tough decision, don't penalize people for taking risks

Pros

Products are reliable and have good quality,

Cons

Poor management, incompetent managers; manager treat people unfairly

Pros

Many career opportunities, fair compensation

Cons

Bureaucratic, climate not encouraging entrepreneurship

Pros

Good benefits and amount of time off. The work is stable and there is little chance of being laid off.

Cons

Too much politics, the corporate folks ruined the small compnay feeling and attitude at BD San Jose. There is little chance of promotion do to the nature of the business.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the employees, they have good attitudes. Try not to make the place so corporate and respect the associates that are already in place.

Pros

The company is generally regarded as a safe bet by investors. It has been steady through good and bad economic times.

Cons

BD is very bureaucratic, probably like many other large companies. The culture is that of sustaining engineering and does not lend itself to innovation well.

Advice to Senior Management

BD needs to shake the high volume - low margin culture and get some innovative higher value products into the marketplace.