Cerner – “Cerner is not a good place to work if you want to be treated with respect.”

Pros

The company makes a product that is truly needed in the marketplace. Medical software is very important in providing accurate care for patients. We need to move toward truly automated patient records at hospitals, clinics and doctor's offices and Cerner is the company who does truly have the vision to see that this is needed. I don't agree with Neil Patterson, as far as how he treats employees, however, his vision of how he see's his company contributing to the furture of medical care is spot on. If you want to participate in the future of medical care then Cerner is the place to do it.

Cons

Managements lack of accurate and timely communication is a problem. When they do communicate, it isn't to tell you what a great job you're doing, it is to tell you that you better work harder, because you can be replaced. This type of communication is done at the town hall meetings and the informal team meetings. You know you are not valued at all by management. However, I have met some of the nicest employees while working at Cerner. The only reason I can see that some employee's work their as long as they do is because of their fellow employees, not because of management. You are expected to work very long hours with no work-life balance. Forget about having a family life, it isn't going to happen. If you are single and have no life at all other then work, this is the place for you, otherwise don't work here. I worked at Cerner for almost 7 years and saw many employees have to choose between family and work and the families suffered.

Advice to Senior Management

Try treating the employees like valuable commodites instead of expendable and replacebable trash. Understand that an employee who is treated with respect and fairness with be loyal to your company. Loyal, valued employees will then treat the customer's of the company with respect. Right now you have high turnover and the customer is constantly being faced with dealing with staff that is unhappy or so new to their job that they can't provide the quality service that the customer expects and deserves!