Fluke Corporation Reviews

Pros

They still have sick leave, paid vacation , heath insurance and other benefits unlike many companies in the area. They have an in house gym and jogging areas, and a rather expensive cafeteria.

Cons

If you do not work in production they will keep loading work on you until it is impossible to get the work done in 40 hours. In production you are not allowed to sit down and they spend way too much time on QDIP boards,charts etc. that don't mean anything to the workers. They kaizan to kaizan, management must have on their reviews to do 4 kaizans a year so they do them whether or not they are needed.

Pros

You could be graced with nice co-workers - and if you're an office worker, you're likely to have a decent computer and the software you need.

Cons

- managers are treating their teams badly, demanding results that are not possible and even the receptionists are treating possible hires horribly (I had the pleasure of meeting a lady who didn't have the patience to point me in the right direction when I came to the office for my first interview).
- When trying to bring in new ideas you're fighting against the machine to reach the top level - if you ever will.
- Management is too focused on the corporate rituals and profits and not focused enough on the well-being of their employees.
- You never get thanked for your efforts

Advice to Senior Management

Stop looking at the numbers and answer the distress calls of the employees who would love to bring innovation into the company. Strip several levels of management and give people the possibility to make changes - and most of all, train your managers to appreciate their teams' efforts! The simple words of "thanks for your hard work" are simple things that keep the work force motivated.

Pros

Fluke brand; Fluke product quality emphasis - a proud history
generally long-tenured employees, dedicated, reliable, hard-working.
Average pay, slightly below-average benefits and time off.
Part of larger Danaher test and measurement business portfolio, provides some with opportunities for advancement within Danaher.

Cons

Top leadership communicates poorly; tends towards rudeness, arrogance, overly demanding expectations of the workforce, sometimes perceived as uncaring.
Cost containment and expense management measures to achieve profit objectives for parent company (Danaher) taken to the extreme; short sighted in investment of resources, infrastructure, staffing.
Lacks corporate vision that empoyees can really own and support.

Advice to Senior Management

Invest in your employees and you'll enhance your internal and external brand.

Pros

Staffed so lean that you can work above your level and have a span of control to gain experience far beyond norms. DBS (Danaher Business System) teaches you about Lean Processes, and there is flexbility with change and constant adaptation. If you want career growth, and you're an Ivy League MBA, you can opt for a fast track to a leadership position.

Cons

Ridiculous emphasis on the issue of headcount. Every KPI in the company eventually gets trumped by this. Sadly, they lose a lot of talent and the "A" performers hang around long enough to see what's going on and leave. The rest are just being ground down into dust. Not a long term career move.

Advice to Senior Management

Teamwork and Leadership are about focusing on more than making your quarterly numbers. People are not a liability but an asset if you give them the tools and recognition. Barbara Hulit is an excellent leader but the micromanagement from Danaher leadership nullifies a lot of what she represents.

Pros

compensation, will not be bored

Cons

work life balance and location

Pros

Very focused on excellence and continuous improvement. Great place to be if you are truly interested in learning about Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen's, etc.

Cons

Constantly moving management around. This is good in one respect because they get a feel for the entire business. This is also bad because you can end up with management that doesn't understand or want to understand a certain business unit.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on having management that is strong in certain and the right areas to focus on a business unit.

Pros

Fluke makes quality products that customers are willing to pay a premium for. As a Danaher company, Fluke uses the Danaher Business System (DBS), which is an offshoot of the Toyota Production System. DBS is a great set of tools to help increase manufacturing productivity and reduce "waste." Fluke has many intelligent and dedicated employees who are willing to work very hard to make the company successful.

Cons

-Compensation is slightly below average (part of the cost cutting culture) and most employees are overworked and are at, or close to, burnout.
-Parent company (Danaher) is very focused on reporting headcount reductions to Wall Street so this creates pressure on Fluke's senior leadership to reduce FTE's and have those remaining (the Associates, not leadership) do the work of those who's positions were eliminated.
-Senior leadership does a poor job of communicating with employees. When management does communicate the message is often comes across as political spin (e.g., glossing over management missteps and downplaying employee concerns)
-Poor work life balance.
-Career development (company is so lean that there are not many positions and opportunities that lend themselves to developing employees)
-Management does not do a good job recognizing and rewarding employees when they do a good job...focus is on the 1% of the time when things did not go right as opposed to the 99% of the time when things go well.

Advice to Senior Management

Be honest with the employees. Treat employees the same way that you would want to be treated. Realize that unless things changes, when economy picks, up many employees will be looking to work elsewhere.

Pros

Quality products that customers love, accurate, durable and safe tools for the maintenance professional. Fluke products help individuals do a better job and help companies be more green by using less power and using it more efficiently.

Cons

Managerment style is very negative - constant focus on what you have not done regardless of positive contributions. Typical management comment is good job, but....Expectation is that you work til midnight every night and start your day at 5, pay cuts of 10 %, forced time off, no promotion opportunities. I have never seen a worse company when it came to managing data or communication to employees. Very questionable business ethics when it comes to being a public company. Company will make their numbers for Danaher at the expense of the workers the loyalty at this company definitly goes one way. I am amazed at how loyal people are to this company when Fluke will throw them aside if it means making the Danaher number. Wake up Sheep!

Advice to Senior Management

Economy is getting better - get ready for the exodus.

Pros

- Benefits are ok
- Use to have a lot of people who really cared about the brand and believed in the product
- Location is decent as it is not in the main commute lines

Cons

- No recognition of successes or individual performance
- Management levels all have their own agendas
- Company will suck as much of your time as you are willing to give and hold it against you if you are not working more than 40+ hours every week
- Difficult to progress or get any career development direction/assistance

Advice to Senior Management

Start setting realistic goals and properly source those targets. Start thinking more about the customer instead of Wall Street.

Pros

- Stock price - company continues to perform well and if you own stock or have stock options, you'll do well financially. Compensation is robust if you are a middle or senior level manager. If you aren't, then this won't be a pro.
- They apply lean tools and methodology pretty well and continually drive process improvement across all areas/functions of the company.
- Company embraces change and few question or challenge the change. The company takes the approach of "let's try it and if it doesn't work, we'll go back to the way it was." Don't read into this that it is ok to make mistakes - it isn't. One is expected not to make mistakes.

Cons

- Career development is a problem here. Management expects one to deliver results, take on more responsibility, and promotions are few. If you interview there, ask the hiring manager how many people have been promoted - not a title change or reassignment to another area, but an actual promotion. Few people are promoted from within; most are external hires in developing management roles (MBAs). Read others comments on MBAs vs Engineers - their comments are correct. Engineers are not highly value in this company, which values business leaders over engineers.
- Stock performance is impressive and the Danaher Business System is only partly responsbile for the company's success. Don't get me wrong here, DBS is a good toolkit, but most of the success of the stock price is due to their saavy in applying creative, questionable ways/methods to improve numbers.
- Very short term focused company - not at all interested in long term opportunities with a longer wait for a return on their investment.
- Little respect for their employees. They reduced everyone's salary by 5% in 2009 (10% if you worked at Tektronix) to make their numbers better at their employees' expense.

Advice to Senior Management

Do a much better job of valuing your top performing employees and promoting from within.
MBAs are great and all, but you miss out on some good people who don't have this degree. Repect your engineers more - they are the most important employees you have, not the MBAs. The engineers will come up with your next "Ipod, Ipad" which is important in your type of business. You don't need more MBAs to help you "cook" the books. Improve your quality of earnings.