Johnson & Johnson Reviews

Pros

GREAT experience if you are finance accounting major

Cons

It is quite difficult for an intern to be hired as fulltime/FLDP, as they are competing against Co-ops who are working at the company for 6 months vs the 11 weeks.

Pros

There are a lot of opportunities to move around

Cons

Too many people stay in the same position for too long.

Advice to Senior Management

None

Pros

One of the few companies left with a pension plan, as well as many opportunities for both lateral and vertical mobility.

Cons

Not particularly fast-paced, which I guess could be considered a plus to anyone who is family oriented. For those looking to quickly further a fast-paced career, it can be done, but is more challenging.

Advice to Senior Management

There is little to improve here. My one caution would be not to get caught up in what already works. Having just celebrated their 125th anniversary this summer, it would be easy to become complacent. However, with the role technology and expert systems are beginning to play in the heathcare field, they must continue looking forward.

Pros

decentralized workplace
highly talented people to work with
great reputation is the industry
best place to work for a self motivated person with good relationship skills
company takes its CSR activities seriously and genuinly wants to give back to the society

Cons

credo seems to loose its relevance
biased recruitment practices - esp the HR cadre is full of resources selected from one mediocre college
lack of proper communication vertically esp. in the organization
fearful of the words innovation, ideation, social media, organizational microblogging etc

Advice to Senior Management

Managerial Innovation essential - vertical communication - especially upwards should be enabled, innovation efforts are lacking, please ensure there are no biases in recruitment practises - coz it causes a very negative word of mouth publicity.

Pros

Very relaxed environment. Except for the quarter closing, it is very relaxed and people are very friendly. Good learning programs are being enforced throughout the company

Cons

Compensation is not the best compensation that you can find. Better rates are offered in other places. Also, communication throughout the company is questionable.

Advice to Senior Management

Johnson & Johnson is a premiere company that has been through many phases. I think right now, company has gotten so big to the point where communication throughout the organization is not being enforced too well.

Pros

Such a wide range industry from cosmetics to medical devices. Also has great company culture and credo that is followed.

Cons

Such huge companies that make it really hard for you to advance in career. Most times you will feel like just a number.

Advice to Senior Management

You are doing a great job with this company and i think it is good that there is a lot of emphasis on the credo.

Pros

Great international career opportunities.
Very good compensation compared with other FMCG companies.
Attracts many talented young people.
Provides opportunities within a wide range of categories, ranging from OTC to beauty products.

Cons

It is a complex corporate structure, constantly undergoing reorganizations. This can create lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities and, at times, too much energy is spent due to organizational inefficiencies.

Advice to Senior Management

Walk the talk and make sure every employee feels that the Credo is still alive and kicking and not only empty words in the quarterly letters from Bill Weldon. At the moment, I feel the company has strayed from the true Credo path, too often putting financials first.

Pros

Compensation, benefits, & likelihood of industry always having a consumer.

Cons

Senior management has made choices to drive short term profit that will lead to tough time for future senior leadership and the company's employees. It is very difficult to get fired from J&J, so many co-workers will quit before the work is truly done or, they will claim that more things are beyond their control than actually are.

Advice to Senior Management

Read the credo and actually follow it. Even if that means you sacrifice short term profits (and your personal bonus), the company will thrive long-term if the credo is followed.

Pros

Family/Work balance oriented company. Good side tools to be able to segregate work and family. Trainings focusing on focusing for performance: when at work, work; when at home, be at home.

Cons

No clear succesion plan. And no training for gaps to move to different possitions or responsibilities. Movement is vertical in general, unless you train yourself in these extra areas.

Advice to Senior Management

Create a clear path and process for middle management to be able to grow in the company. Find gaps and help to cover them.

Pros

The company still has a good reputation and attracts talented individuals. Co-workers are very good at what they do and take pride in their contributions. Pay and benefits are good and most people are very congenial to work with. Seems to have a great pipeline and unlike other Pharmas has not been majorly impacted by the so-called patent cliff. This year alone there have been 3-4 new product launches which is unheard of in today's Pharma companies.

Cons

Many remain in their jobs for a very long time without promotion or recognition. It seems that management would rather hire from outside versus promote from within. Even contractors tend to have a better chance of getting the job over talented permanent employees. Hiring tends to be either over-qualified or under-qualified and there's no HR support whatsoever. New hires often have to fend for themselves as management has no clue how to properly onboard new people.

As a manager, you end up doing much menial and tedious work and there's not a lot emphasis on making things better. There's so much CYA work that it becomes difficult to identify continuous improvement opportunities let alone drive through these changes.

The organization is also very heirarchical. There seems to be a belief that you have to be an Associate Director or higher in order to make independent decisions. Otherwise, you'd better clear it with those higher level people or you're in danger of disciplinary action. Management also tends to micro-manage as they don't have as much trust in their employees as they should have and are constantly following up to make sure you did what you were supposed to do and when you were supposed to do it.

Another problem here is the prolific decentralization. The concepts of strategic systems and shared services are foreign despite the inefficiencies it yields to have so many different systems and processes to work through.

Advice to Senior Management

J&J's too big to be this decentralized and needs to develop a model of central controls with decentralized decision making in order to gain efficiencies and drive quality standards. Learn to trust your people - especially when they've demonstrated the capability to do good work without significant supervision. Look first to promote from within before you look for talent outside. Empower and hold your HR department responsible for doing their jobs effectively. And finally, develop a strong IT organization that focuses on supporting and serving the business.