Northrop Grumman – “Bad Management at its Absolute Worst”

Pros

Northrop Grumman is one of only a few shipyards in the country that build large military vessels. The opportunities for this company to become the premier leader of its kind are endless. It has many acres for ship manufacturing, lots of technical talent, three sites in three different states (allowing for easy employee exchange), and a well-developed industry. There are a few good managers. Mike Petters has just recently assumed leadership. So far I like what I see, but unfortunately he has a very long way to go to improve morale and to mitigate the effects of past wrongs.

Cons

The management is the absolute worst I've ever seen. Incompetence is rampant, especially at the managerial level. There's an "ostritch with head stuck in the sand" attitude regarding HR matters. The corporate investment management (e.g., 401K) is suspect. Overhead is in the triple digits, percentagewise. Last but not least, the southern culture associated with this shipyard seems to affect how managers treat employees, which is to say, racism and discrimination (racial and gender) are simply out of control. There is no such thing as equal opportunity here. I have a master's degree in engineering, yet I'm never allowed to perform engineering duties. I feel as if I'm collecting a welfare check, and it's intensely depressing. Here, people are outcast if they don't follow convention. It's business the old way, or no way. Managers are paid incredibly exorbitant salaries and bonuses. Managers do NOT communicate well with employees. My manager hasn't spoken to me in months. MONTHS! Managers here still yell and scream at us, and denounce us based on lies told by immediate supervisory personnel. We are treated worse than prisoners.

Advice to Senior Management

Start empowering your employees. You paid for our education, but won't allow us to use what we've learned to help the company...You must change this. Stop covering up the indiscretions of your managers. Start treating us equally, regardless of race or gender. Start monitoring the management of individual employees to ensure that each employee is being used to his or her full potential, and to ensure that each employee is being treated fairly. Start LISTENING to our concerns, and taking an active part in empowering us and making postive changes that can benefit this shipyard. Stop screaming at us! WE ARE NOT YOUR CHILDREN! Reorganize HR so that it is effective. Right now HR is simply a total waste of time...It's like the fox watching the chicken coop. Start giving us an equal opportunity to excel, please! Also, start mandating management training for all managers!!!!