Crestron Electronics Reviews

Pros

Crestron provides an opportunity to be on the cutting edge of technology. If you are someone who can work individually and if you can demonstrate that you "know your stuff" you will find both your co-workers and management recognizing this. You can receive the respect from the co-workers and management will give you more responsibility with extra projects. There is a morning meeting for the application engineers around the country where information is disseminated from corporate so you get more a feeling on cohesiveness, if you get on the call.

At a trade show once, GF offered to fly a friend & I home so he could make his son's last little league game and I could make my daughter's school performance.

Cons

As with any company of this size there can be a disconnect between what's coming and what the folks in the trenches know. While the morning meetings are very informative, there are times when the sales team has information that it would be nice if the support engineers knew and vise-versa.

Advice to Senior Management

Some of the directors in the regional office are very good at recognizing the talent they have at their disposal, others are not. Do not be afraid to praise in public and be sure you criticize in private.

Pros

Leading company in the industry. Stable market growth. Cutting edge technology makes it easier to get your foot in the door.

Cons

Micro-managing is counter productive. When you do well, you are not praised. Quotas go up exponentially and you are expected to achieve at a higher level. A typical reply to achieving over quota is that management mis-read the territory.

Advice to Senior Management

Appreciate the employees. Offer opportunity for growth, advancement, merit increases. The arrogance that employees should just be happy to work at Crestron is leading qualified people away from the company. There is no work/life balance. Period. Happy employees are hard working employees. Bullied employees keep constantly updated resumes.

Pros

Lots of exciting technology.
Lack of accountability.
Due to constant release of new products, there is always something new to learn.
Willing to hire "new blood" since the A/V industry/generation is getting older and growing.
Medical/dental insurance.
When the office is hosting training, there is free food.
The office usually has a "play day" or "corporate training day" or somesuch once a year, and talk was to make it once a quarter. Last April, the office went zip-lining; it was AWESOME.
Can take some of the gear home to learn it.
If you can find a mentor you can learn a lot; there are a few talented/experienced people in the organization.

Cons

Lack of accountability.
3% raises based on "performance", but everyone gets 3% raises or less, and the review process is a joke, if it happens.
So many new products that its hard to keep up since there is almost no training rolled out prior to launch.
Hiring "new blood" without proper training is stress inducing on all involved.
Recently discovered I was making 40 - 60% of market value for my services.
Working from home, tele-working, or other flexible options are reserved for sales, & directors, not Application Engineers.
Organization is a nightmare: no org chart, HQ is in Jersey, regional offices across US, independent offices worldwide; no clear indication of who's in charge and things seem to be changing, but no idea into what.
I have filled 2 increasingly complex/demanding new roles over my years here, and a performance based raise was never offered, let alone mentioned.
Praise consists of "You guys suck less today than you did yesterday; you still suck".

Advice to Senior Management

Right now, Crestron is succeeding in spite of itself.
It's good that you finally decided to stop trying to stamp out all the little guys and focus on the core market.
"Keep your mouth shut" is/should not be valid criteria for being considered a good employee.
With continued record growth in the region (that barely slowed through the recession), there is no reason to be stingy on salaries & promotions.
Find some focus: running around like a chicken with its head cut off "putting out fires" will cause catastrophic failure; there is no way to sustain the "THE SKY IS FALLING!!!" style of management indefinitely; people will burn out.

Pros

The salary was OK, not great, the coworkers are fantastic, some of the best I have ever worked with. The technology could be interesting.
The model shop is absolutely first rate.

Cons

Some Engineers were absolutely swamped with others wlaking around looking for work. There was no communication or coordination between the electrical and mechanical groups with respect to project planning.
Upper management is completely disconnected with the rest of the company.
Total lack of porject and resource management.
For a technology company, they do a lot of in the stone ages: The CAD drawings are physically printed out and signed off vs utlizing a PDM system. There is no thermal analysis packages (like Flowtherm), so all analysis is via building and testing products.
George, the owner, creates all new projects and hands them out as he sees fit, not based on engineer availability or manger preference.
Measely 2-3% raises if any,m even for junior engineers.

Advice to Senior Management

take some practices out of any management books from 1986 or newer.
Get some tools that your competition has been using since 1995 to cut your cycle time.
Quit hiring new faces and manage what you have before the whole thing implodes.

Pros

The people care about the company

Cons

Management doesn't care too much about their people

Pros

Working at Crestron exposes you to the latest cutting edge technologies. You get to work with a great team of highly motivated and intelligent individuals. This place challenges you to excel and make a difference in the products.

Cons

Unrealistic development schedules are becoming the norm. Even when these crazy schedules are met, management can't reward employees with competitive raises due to the "bad economy".

~2 years of salary freezes followed by 2 years of prorated/tepid raises. In this same "bad economy", Crestron has undergone explosive new hiring with countless new faces and an overflowing parking lot to boot.

Advice to Senior Management

You are killing employee morale/loyalty. Slow down on hiring new people and take care of the people to took you to the top.

Pros

Great salary if you started in the "early" years. Privately owned. The owner is still there and active and people want to make him succeed. Great smart people. Industry leader.

Cons

I was proud to be part of the Crestron family, and loved my job and being part of the family, but greed has taken over. Lost the specialness it had and can't look after the employees like the used to. The benefits were better and it was a happy place.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop trying to be "God" and get back to the what made the company. Metrics and the bottom line has changed what this company was all about.

Pros

Cool products...formerly good pay. Could still be in some situations

Cons

VP of sales
401k is weak,
crazy management,
 facing very stiff competition from cheaper products that do the same job.

Advice to Senior Management

They dont give two shakes so why waste my time.

Pros

Crestron will challenge you to do your best work at all times, and will provide you with every resource you need (except time!). It's a terrific place to work and the management is whip smart and top notch. You are expected to perform at a very high level all the time - there is no room for slackers here. They have collected many of the brightest, most creative people I've ever worked with. The pace is breakneck. If you like working with the hottest technologies on the coolest project, and don't mind long hours, Crestron will not only reward you creatively, but financially as well. George Feldstein is the smartest engineer I have ever met, absolutely brilliant, and he never sleeps. Really - he is a force of nature, and he expects everyone around him to be as driven as he is. There will be no limits on what you can invent and create here, but be careful of burnout! The company is rock-solid financially - there are super smart people guiding the business. Privately held, they make investments based on what's good for the company in five years and ten years, not just next quarter. On the whole, they take very good care of their employees and Crestron is a great place to work. If it wasn't for the high cost of living in NJ, I'd still be there.

Cons

Constant pressure to perform against tight deadlines in a very competitive marketplace. Relentless pace.

Advice to Senior Management

Celebrate the victories! So many awards won by Crestron yet so little recognition for the guys back in the cubicle that put in the extra hours. The annual engineering luncheon and holiday parties are great! Let the employees play w/ Crestron products - the engineers need more practical experience installing and using Crestron products in the real world.

Pros

Fair compensation. Innovative products. You're working with a lot of smart and dedicated people.
Everyday is an opportunity to challenge oneself, learn and improve.

Cons

Work life balance. Limited growth. No bonus.

Advice to Senior Management

Find ways to really use your employees so they can use their full potential.