DHL Express Reviews

Pros

DHL had a lot to offer in regards to positions, departments, etc.. Depending on your niche in the company and who you worked for it was a great place to be.

Cons

Too much of a buddy system. It was all about who do you know and not what you can do. Many promotions were a result of this system and not due to work ethic and performance. Too many people were in the wrong position and didn't have the ability to perform the job.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn from your past mistakes and don't repeat them. The timing of the new advertising campaign was terrible. We were merging two hubs and had pathetic service during the transition. Why did we push for new customers in this environment? You don't need directors without any reports and you need better oversight on your hiring and promotions. Posting a position when you are going to hire a buddy just for appearances sake wastes time and is counter productive.

Pros

Good pay, Learning opportunities, International experience

Cons

Lack of employee recognition, politics, daily org changes

Advice to Senior Management

Do your job or leave

Pros

Good pay for performance and fast tracks (pre-domestic departure). Nice international opportunities for people who desire work abroad. Strength in other divisions.

Cons

Very poor perception of service quality in the United States. The go-to-market strategies were all wrong and executed by leadership unfamiliar with US competition.

Advice to Senior Management

Handle the business with greater care and realism. Number three doesn't become number one or two in any industry so not sure why this would have been any different.

Pros

Great people to work with, forged some good friendships with people and developed valuable skills. Learned I had a really good read on when companies are sinking ships.

Cons

Senior Management thought they knew everything, and everything they tried to accomplish was met with failure because they never had the heart to see things through. Things just went from one flavor to the next. There was no drive or determination to build the company.

Advice to Senior Management

Accept the mistakes you made. Focus on the areas you need to improve on. Invest in good talent and infrastructure. Listen to your employees and most importantly listen to your customers. Don't just run a employee survey campaign but actually sit down with employees at all levels and get to the heart of the problems and try to fix them.

Pros

Corporate salary structure
Annual bonuses
Decent office environment and equipment
Resources

Cons

Good people left
Promotions based on politics, not accomplishments
Benefits were getting progressively worse

Advice to Senior Management

Do something about the morale!

Pros

Career Advancement
Professional Growth
Competitive Atmosphere
Team-Oriented
Compensation + Quarterly Bonuses

Cons

Poor Senior Management decisions through the merger with Airborne Express
Went through several CEO's before Ken Allen
Too much change, too quickly
Tough decisions were not made until too late

Advice to Senior Management

Ken Allen was the answer we needed as a company; he made the tough decisions and truly listed to the voice of the employees. Even though he made the decision to lay off thousands of employees (including myself), I feel that he was left with no other option. His decisions to increase pricing, drop certain under-performing products, demand more money from larger customers, and cutting some of the fat from the Corp Office was spot on. Unfortunately, he came aboard too late in the game.

My advice to senior management is simply this; be realistic, be decisive, and pay attention to your top performers. Poor and passive attitude towards the union (teamsters) also killed this company. Driver pay for the union drivers was obnoxiously high and driver pay for independent contractor drivers was on the complete other side of the spectrum. There has to be a better solution to the union problem.

Pros

Good people to work with including upper management, career opportunities/pathing, belief in products sold;industry global leader, recognition for a job well done, good commission structure

Cons

some internal processes could be more streamlined. All in all, not many cons. I'm happy with my job and trust in the management.

Advice to Senior Management

Many positive changes have been made. Continue down that path. Over all, DHL is a great place to work and I would refer friends/family.

Pros

Still a strong brand name on your CV
In the past: great learning opportunities and professional challenges
In the past: good career development
In the past: innovation, ambition, forward-looking
Pride: colleagues are still proud and willing to help & support each other, also in difficult times
Historically well advanced in terms of process definition and strategic review

Cons

Current senior management: capabilities and style
How can anyone let an accountant run a company this size, especially in the service industry?
Lack of fairness and respect, especially with regards to employees
Lack of clarity and honest communication
Favouritsm & nepotism
Politics, back-stabbing, bureaucracy
Micro management: does a CEO really need to approve the replacement of a broken phone?
Lack of innovation and investments in tools, people, ideas and service quality
Lack of cross country and cross functional collaboration and alignment
Unreasonable demands and expectations without providing bigger picture or long term view
Senior management disconnected from real life and real customers
Questionable fit with Deutsche Post "german" mentality and understanding of the International Express market

Advice to Senior Management

Practice what you write down on posters: respect for employees and customers
Invest in people, systems, ideas
Dont let accountants run a company
Re-install objective decision making & performance measurement
Go back to the values and spirit of the former "White & Red" DHL International

Pros

International reach is almost unsurpasses by other companies. Great brand name recognition.

Cons

Lack of long term vision. Old boy network environment. Poor communication from management to employees. Wasting away the great brand name. Squandering the talent and experience that exists in the company by treating people unfairly and disrespectfully.

Advice to Senior Management

Respect the employees who you say are you greatest asset. Business decisions should be based on a plan, and not carried out on a whim with no long term vision.

Pros

My department was a good place to work, and I had a good boss. Most of the staff was friendly and the facilities were good.

Cons

Some of the other departments seemed to have a good ole boy mentality. There did not seem to be alot of opportunity for advancement. Employee flight benefits could have been improved.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay attention to performance rather than politics.