Hewlett-Packard Reviews in Houston, TX Area

Pros

well the few folks i work with are nice. other than that? I like the pizza combo deal in the cafe.

Cons

not being told what you can do to do better. being told you are doing great but then get a crappy review. Never being rewarded for doing good work even if your manager had a clue what you do.
makes sense? try working here... nothing makes any sense.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn how to give reviews and feedback to your employees. Act like you care more about them then you do about figuring out how to save more and more money for the uppers to get a FAT bonus.

Pros

401k (now that they gave them back)
Health Benefits
Stock options (Now that they gave them back)

Cons

Company forces a team to identify the person to let go (bad rating), regardless of actual contribution. This creates a "Highly Developed Social Order". It no longer matters what you contribute, but who you know.

Many groups have managers which have no clue on how to solve the problems that they manage.

Specifications? Plans? Direction? Whats that?

Lots of people swinging hammers with no blue-prints.

They took away 5% from ALL employees in bad times to "save jobs". When times were improving and profits are up (even during the bad times), first year they gave you back your 5% a "a gift" (like it wasn't your money already). Second year they promised to re-instated the loss for "some" employees (local manager discretionary) for year 3, and used this to not give it back for year 2. Pretty cool cost-cutting measure...good job.

In summary.

Year 1: Got your 5% back
Year 2: Too bad
Year 3: About 20% employees now working for 5% less than they started with, not to be revisited again.

Advice to Senior Management

Put competent people in charge and drive towards excellence. If a manger which leads a technical team has no clue about how to solve technical problems, they will drive the group to stupidity.

Pros

Large company, with some opportunity to move around within the company.

Cons

Too large of a company, too bureaucratic, too much layer, too political.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire middle management in engineering who actually know a thing or two about building technology

Pros

The fact that you have the ability to work for a global company that grows with markets is always a good thing. The people are great here, everything is balanced in most arenas.

Cons

Management changes a lot, there are a lot of communication issues as well. HP seems to be a very top heavy corporation with little or no focus on it's most important thing, the employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Work as a team, not against the team. Show respect, and communicate better.

Pros

Nice office facilities, good empty parking lot

Cons

HR Department now runs the company, managers have very little input to hiring or retention of employees
Workers are treated very poorly
Stagnant careers
Forced ranking is used to reduce employee performance rankings so that no one can achieve above average
Product quality is sub standard
You never know where you stand in the company until you get your WFR notice

HR and management manipulates the hiring process to the point that all open jobs are closed the day of a major WFR notice and they do not re-open any jobs until after all the WFR'erd employees have exhausted the time window to obtain a new position. This is a rigged scenario making it impossible to retunr to the company in another role that I hope gets exposed one day.

Advice to Senior Management

It's too late. The new CEO needs to make huge management changes that align with fixing employee morale.

Pros

Fast Paced
High Tech
State of the Art

Cons

Salary
Benefits
Lack of Advancement
No Tuition reimbursement

Advice to Senior Management

Take care of the employees you want to keep

Pros

good work life balance and ability to work from home

Cons

- 5% salary cut (although they are giving it back)
- no raises
- cut benefits
- management not trustworthy, afraid of senior management
- senior management dis-attached from the employees
- lack of career development/advancement (there is a lot of talk about, but that's about it: just talk)

Advice to Senior Management

Restore the benefits, give raises to people who deserve them, make it so it is possible to have a career in HP.

Pros

Good work-life balance
free coffee
You can work from home, but you pay for all electricity, phone, printing and internet service. You get nothing but some office supplies.

Cons

Goal is to take 80% of the workforce 'off-shore' = India, China, Taiwan.
Older higher paid employees are being dropped for college hires or contractors.
Benefits are getting cut and becoming more expensive.
Positions not being replaced when people quit.
Economy is keeping people from quitting HP. Once the economy improves, HP will be a ghost town.
Notice how HP dropped the "Invent" from their logo? Most design work is now done by companies in China and phone calls answered in India, even our own IT support.
Groups are allowed only so many employees at each job grade, therefore there are no promotions unless there is a job grade open. AND, even if you get the promotion, you probably won't get a pay increase.
If your salary happens to be in the middle or upper salary bands you will not get a raise or bonus. Only those in lower bands get increases, to bring them up to the average. Talk about incentives!
No more profit sharing, bonuses, awards, stock options, etc for individual contributor. Directors and above do great, part of the reason they are blind and out of touch with regular employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Analogy: All upper management has been riding the stagecoach and you've been beating the mules and depriving them of water and food while stuffing your faces. You HAVE to treat the individual contributors better.

Pros

Large company and an industry leader

Cons

Typical corporate greed, no loyalty to rank and file workers

Advice to Senior Management

Manage your resources as assets, not overhead. Lead the industry in creating a great team with great products. Share the pain; share the glory. If we take a 5% - 10% "overall" cut in comp...CEO on down should take 5% - 10% "overall" cut in comp.

Pros

Fast paced work at the largest technology company in the world, and a place that was once one of the most desirable to work at.

Cons

Eroding pay and benefits. Stagnant would be an improvement. Outsourcing model gives no security for US personnel. Employees treated more like a necessary evil then they are an asset

Advice to Senior Management

Treat employees with some respect, and restore the benefits pilfered by the thief Mark Hurd