Fonterra Reviews

Pros

Great resources at your finger tips. A place full of smart people.

Cons

Large company, slow to move, limited progression opportunities in my current role. Poor innovation processes due to lack of experience. Counterproductive STI's hinder innovation growth

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on one strategy for innovation. Resource effectively at the sales end of the innovation cycle.

Pros

Location - SE suburbs in Melbourne, convenient location with parking, not in CBD. From time to time you get free products (cheese). They will pay professional CPA membership and study fees.

Cons

Agree with feedback above from Accountant from Hamilton. Finance deptmt: too much politics and the amount of sucking up you have to do is really not worth it. Long hours. If you dare to have any kind of life outside of work you ll end up in the black list, only those who work 7 days a week and suck up big time get promoted. All the company values and the happy marketing image of the company is just a fake, if you want to succeed there instead of being ethical you need to cheat, lie and backstab, and most importantly – do not forget to suck up and blame all things that go wrong on someone else. There are much better employers out there than Fonterra.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of the hitler lady.

Pros

Hours were flexible and I was given a lot of free reign. I could plan my day to suit my lifestyle

Cons

Management is distant, the company so hierarchised it's hard to know who to go to sometimes. Often underestimated the time it would take me to do my round

Advice to Senior Management

you're doing alright. I think, although you don't have a lot to do with truck drivers

Pros

So many experienced leaders to learn from. A big organisation that allows you to change career paths if you want. Good salary and bonuses.

Cons

Too much restructuring happens all the time.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep it up

Pros

good systems like SAP, Oracle, HFM

Cons

politics, if you brown nose, you get a promotion otherwise you don't

Advice to Senior Management

walk the talk and pay better salaries

Pros

Global organisation - fantastic opportunities to grow if you are willing to move.
Great people
Unique New Zealand attitude to business and work comes through in staff
Cooperative workplace environment
Fun people to work with and often for

Cons

Management trying to corporatise a cooperative based business
Value Add strategy is muddled and hamstrung by the cooperative basis of the company meaning profit is essentially unmeasurable
American management coming in have no appreciation of the value of the existing culture
People who have experience within Fonterra are not valued as highly as outsiders brought in

Advice to Senior Management

Value Add will never work if you change the basis for measuring profit every year
All the Americans and Poms you have brought into the executive are nest featherers and empire builders. They could care less for the business and are thinking only about their own bonuses.
How much money have they spent for what return?
Don't let them keep dragging the business backwards!
Commodity is not a dirty word!!!

Pros

Challenging environment, where you could succeed only if you are the chosen one.

Cons

When I worked it was more race oriented

Advice to Senior Management

identify talent and grow them