Ford Motor – “Works you hard, but can be rewarding!”

Pros

Despite being over 100 years old, Ford is an up and coming automaker with a bright future. Its really nice to (finally) receive all the positive press and gain respect relative to peers in the industry. The executive management team is talented, bold, and willing to make difficult decisions. The strategy set forth from Alan's team is clear and spot-on - profitable growth from a global product-led revolution. And the top management really make an effort to inform employees about certain topics regarding the company which would not normally be known. The company offers very competitive benefits and salary, and have policies in place for very flexible work schedules and arrangements to help support work-life integration.

Cons

Hours can be long. The consecutive years of rightsizing the company have cut the employee base to the bare minimum necessary to operate. Thus we're all working very hard. Some middle management at the company needs improvement - especially related to lack of leadership. Sometimes it seems they want to pass the buck to the upper management and let them decide everything. Also promotions have been rare recently, and probably will be for the near future, so career development is stalled.

Advice to Senior Management

To the leadership at Ford, full speed ahead! Continue to drive high quality, technology-rich products into the market and Ford will be rewarded. International cooperation and coordination could be improved. Although One Ford is being fully implemented there are still disconnects at the middle-management and working levels that should be addressed. Also Ford needs to solve the career development problem - how do you convince top achievers that they have upward mobility when there have been no promotions?!