Pros

The pay is decent considering that you really don't need a college degree to work here.
The holiday schedule is pretty good.
Bonus has been decent.

Cons

In-depth engineering and analysis seems to be lacking with little time allowed to come up with innovative new designs.
Every program is pushed so hard for time and capital that engineers are forced to spend little time coming up with new ideas and more time copying old designs.
Quality has also taken a back seat as quality engineers seem to have been forced to become little more then shipping advocates.
All you really need are some decent Proe, and SAP skills, advanced degrees aren't worth much here.
No Deere locations are that great.

Advice to Senior Management

Innovation takes time and money! Unless Deere invests in both it is going to allow itself to be surpassed by other manufacturers.
Promote based on performance!

Pros

They are flexible to my school schedule. I have a pretty good chance to be hired on full time once I graduate.

Cons

The parking is horrible. I come to work at odd times and often can not find a place to park or have to park a long ways away.

Advice to Senior Management

My boss is pretty good. He does a good job keeping me busy. I've learned a lot about putting stuff on the web site for our group.

Pros

Deere has best in class business process and people who are smart and professional. This is not some old-tractor business with a good-old-boy network.

Working at Deere is an education into how business is done right. Optimal economics, highest ethical standards.

Cons

There are a lot of guys waiting to retire in the next ten years that aren't going anywhere fast. Promotion is limited if you are in your 30s and mid career. They struggle giving good jobs to high performers when an older guy feels like he earned it and has waited longer. It creates a culture where young, high performers have to wait around a lot for promotions that would come faster in a more dynamic management company.

Advice to Senior Management

Please be willing to do more to promote the young, strong bench strength at Deere. If you don't, your best talent will walk out the door before all the old guys retire.

Pros

As a part time student they offer me benefits similar to that of the full time staff. They are completely flexible with our schedules around school and the pay is well above average for college students elsewhere.

Cons

Part-time employment doesn't lead to full-time employment. The GPA requirement for accounting and engineering interns is too high. Not much recognition for work done.

Advice to Senior Management

Haven't worked with them enough to pass judgement

Pros

This is a great place to work if you are entire level individual. Deere supports growth in education and training. The management really cares about the "little guys".

Cons

There is not a great location for any Deere facility. It really is a turn off for an individual right out of college coming to the middle of now where with nothing to do. Deere is unionized... that speaks for itself.

Advice to Senior Management

Management has it's head on straight for driving strong through this economic downspin. Biggest advice: drop the union and quit hiring ex-auto employees into management positions. There is a reason why the auto industry is in the position it is.

Pros

Pretty vanilla place to work. The high points aren't too high, but the low points aren't show stoppers. Salary is very good for the area. Benefits are still pretty good, but not as legendary as they once were. The primary health plan is an HSA, which is great if you are a younger worker. Work/life balance is pretty good as well, so long as the ag market isn't screaming through the clouds as it was in 2007-2008. More normal volumes have led to better balance. Supply management function is awfully sophisticated for the industry.

Cons

I have been with this location for 3 years and seen 3 medium-sized and 1 major reorganization. Managers are constantly tinkering with the org chart for little perceived benefit. JD continues to hire ex-automotive types directly into supervisory roles. Because, clearly, we should be led by people from a failed industry rather than promoting from within. There is a strong flavor of cronyism, and picking the right "mentor" seems the fastest route to the top. The only way to get hired out of college seems to be through one of the rotational programs. That has some benefits, but it also means that you could end up in Ottumwa, IA or Coffeyville, KS for 18 months (not a pleasant prospect).

Advice to Senior Management

You build tractors, not cars. Different industries mean different strategies. The automotive model is a great fit in some aspects (lean manufacturing, rapid new product development) , but downright impossible in others (we can't always dictate conditions to our supply base because we aren't Toyota or GM).

Pros

Deere is a proud and responsible organization with a rich history of profitable and successful products and customers who swear by the brand with their own livelihood. There is an abundance of pride from making tractors and servicing those who serve the land in the Midwest. If you perform well, you will have chances to do new things and take new roles in different functional areas to broaden your base of experience. Deere is an awesome place to start a career and get a feel for the overall industrial business environment. Pay and benefits are great for the locations where Deere is located, so your standard of living will be reasonably high. You will work with the best people available in the workforce from the area you are located, and you will be given the opportunity to develop yourself.

Cons

Deere is not a management development academy, so don't expect that type of culture or experience. Seriously stagnant at the high middle management layers - with resulting cronyism for the best promotion opportunities - that self-protects/perpetuates. Don't expect to fly high or get a big opportunity for high impact assignments or access to Senior managment unless you work for the right people at the right time or get hired through the Strategic Management Program. SMP is basically an insider club of MBAs from Tuck, Kellogg, etc. that are essentially preselected for the high visibility and impact positions before they even start with the company. SMP is sweet for those involved and bitter for those not.

Deere has done well over a long period of time, so there there is cultural complacency that inhibits efforts to build a great organization. Management talks actively about building a great business, but the culture won't permit it. Great people in general are not being recruited or retained.

There is little incentive to stay more than 5 years with the company unless your career ambition is to build combines, balers, tractors, etc. or you settle down in the community where you are working and decide to stay forever. There are few if any employers that compete for talent in the locations where Deere thrives, so external talent competition is not a factor.

Advice to Senior Management

There are obvious deficiencies in systematic talent development processes from the individual contributor level to middle-management levels which will result in long-term brain drain unless resolved. Use results and talent as the benchmark - not favoritism.

The talent review mechanism is too limited and not robust enough to ensure that the right leaders for the future are identified, developed, and promoted. The first role of leadership should be talent development, but this process is not a first priority at Deere.

The few leaders being promoted today through the ranks are not ready for the next level of responsibility because you have not properly prepared them. This will drive the talented risk-takers that are ready to move up out of the organization unless we rededicate to developing leaders at all levels. The "rocket" phenomena of people working at the same level for 5-10-15 years and then skyrocketing 4 or 5 layers of management in a few years is not a good long term leadership development process, but it is the process by which most of upper middle management acheived their current positions. Change it!

We are not utilizing the full talents of our existing workforce because we are not leveraging their skills or total experiences when assignments are made - only the experience that one gains at Deere is generally relevant for promotion consideration. Not-made-here syndrome puts blinders on the process. Whether there is business experience, leadership experience, language skills, or other skills - our people are not being utilized to their fullest. We can't waste our most important resources and expect to thrive in a global economy. The role of HR is not clear but needs to be strengthened dramatically to centralize/improve the process.

Pros

Great wage for a part time student position! I love the opportunities to network and the interest the company shows in my personal development and growth. I am glad I have had the opportunity to participate in the part time student program.

Cons

Very few downsides. I am satisfied with my job at John Deere. One thing I wish was different is that it seems that employees are sometimes treated as expendable resources rather than human beings (especially by upper management).

Advice to Senior Management

Great job at leading a winning company! One thing I personally would like to see is a co-op between John Deere and local/organic farmers.

Pros

Used to be a decent place to work before shareholders became the sole measurement of success. Decent work hours and decent compensation for the Midwest. Not too much commute time typically. Stable company for the time-being.

Cons

A political nightmare. The same middle managers rotate around to newly "reorganized" positions. The company does not leverage or value new ideas or new talents, but say they do. They like to gain outside recognition for this, but it doesn't happen internally. Be ready for a day of frustrating, unproductive meetings that prevent you from getting your actual work done. Multiple managers with dotted line reporting provide conflicting input on your work, sending you in circles with no accomplishment, then peg you at review time for not getting things done. The focus has changed from valuing employees to valuing the shareholders. Poor morale, people stuck in the same jobs for 20+ years, and constant talk of how soon they can retire. Deere is typically the only game in town, and treats its employees as such. The "good-old-boy" network cannot be broken unless you figure out how to play the game. Political landmines everywhere, and only those in management know where they are at. If no personal growth, no real advancement opportunities, and frustrating politics are your goal, this may be the place for you.

Advice to Senior Management

Create an open environment where new ideas and new people are valued. Eliminate the protocol and politics, and get your management to let things happen instead of trying to control everything and everyone. Put value back on the employee and their family. Clean up the stifling culture, and let things move at a reasonable pace.

Pros

Good pay in low cost of living locations. Good benefits and time off policies. Access to development & training. Low work hours generally, unless working on a deadline. Good sick pay policies too.

Cons

Lack of opportunity to advance. Very conservative environment, management scared to act. Women are not respected generally and don't often advance - they leave the company instead. Company talks about diversity a lot but doesn't actually get that diversity includes diversity of opinion and methods.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees for a change. Look at managers with high turnover - something is wrong. Why are women leaving the company constantly?