KB Home Reviews

Pros

KB Home is at the forefront of the home building industry- if you are going to work in this industry, make it with KB. Great "Green" initiative, large corporation but intimate environment, executives treat the little people as one of them.

Cons

Business is slow these days, but that's probably temporary. Few windows and harsh lighting in some areas of the building.

Advice to Senior Management

No complaints here whatsoever. Thank you for treating us like humans.

Pros

Managers were personal and dedicated to their department. Learning new abilities.

Cons

Executive Vice President after the release of the president was not an independent thinker, slow to make decisions, showed no care for employee delight and expected unreasonable timelines instead of working with his managers to support his division.

Advice to Senior Management

KB Home Atlanta closed, but they moved the EVP to Charleston. To the EVP I would say, dedicate your time to that division and work your tail off to keep them in business and show your managers why they are worth keeping instead of letting those managers decide the fate. Change your handle from Closing King (aka the one who comes to close a division) to Saving King. As for the CEO Jeff Mezger, I really like your approach to going back to smaller homes for the 1st time buyer, what the company was built on, but upper management use the business model only when it fits their needs. Hopefully you are not doing the same.

Pros

Enjoyed type of work and flexibility.

Cons

Corporate bureaucracy and limited long term vision within local division.

Advice to Senior Management

Give more local autonomy to divisions to be able to make better business based upon local markets rather than making general decisions based upon national trends which do not reflect local markets.

Pros

Opportunity, creative talent, and industry reputation

Cons

Employee treatment, compensation not as competitive as industry standards, and poor communication

Advice to Senior Management

More feedback opportunities for subordinates and management; retention numbers dictate that it is broken

Pros

There are some very small rewards but the cons outweigh the pros

Cons

Lots, forget about your family life, KB will be your life. Favoritism, lack of respect for its sales force. Promotes an unhealthy working environment amongst sales partners.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your sales people, take them seriously, show respect, consideration and true appreciation. Cut the favoritism and the back stabbing, be honest with them and adequate compensation for hard work and show loyalty to your people.

Pros

KB Home was my most exciting and hands-on marketing opportunity. There is plenty to keep you busy and lots of fun events to host and plan. You are given opportunity to manage a territory of new home model communities. You have the chance to create the events to market these communities to the general public and to real estate agents. You are involved with all aspects of the promotion and sales of new home. You are responsible for giving in-house real estate agents the tools necessary for making a sale. As marketing representative you maintain collateral, update websites and promote the communities through direct mail, billboard, tv, internet, magazine and newspaper advertising. There are also fun, young professionals within the organization.

Cons

There are not many promotions available at the local level unless a division sees growth. Unfortunately I was on board during the downturn of the real estate market in Florida. The sales success is only as good as the sales representatives hired and trained in the various divisions. Depending upon the real estate industry in the city/state you work you will see either really well-paid realtors working hard or really poorly paid realtors working hard. KB has a very strong brand and often times there is not a lot of room for doing creative campaigns outside of the typical KB program. You often have to fight to implement new ideas.

Advice to Senior Management

More information and honesty in the stability of the company.

Pros

Money was good. As a field superintendent you have lots and lots of freedom.

Cons

Pressure. They have BS standards of not closing a home unless it is 100% complete. If you find a nick in a cabinet at the final walk through you are not supposed to close the home..... totally stupid.. You have to ask the homeowner not to say anything about the issue. If they don't agree then they can't close... Stupid. Housing markets are very bad right now. 90% of emplyees laid off. Raleigh is now under completely new management..

Advice to Senior Management

Make monthly CSI realistic. You want "fake" numbers. You want us to beg for the 10 even when the homeowner is not completely satisfied. This is very misleading and our yearly scores reflect that. We don't want honest feedback from the homeowners. 100% complete is a great standard and the only standard there should be but we are not robots and do not live in a perfect world.. Frequently minor issues will be found at the final walk through. In fact they always will if the home buyer starts to look. Need a realistic policy other then trying to get the home owner to sign off with the threat of not closing.

Pros

KB Home as a company is one of the best builders in the business as far as it's organization is concerned on a corporate level. Education is very important and is pushed by management.

Cons

The Raleigh division unfortunately was vary disorganized at the local level. We built a lot of houses and did some good work but management and leadership was very much lacking. The right face was usually put out in front publicly, but it wasn't backed up internally.

Advice to Senior Management

Not much since most have been fired or layed off!!

Pros

The benefits were about the only good thing about this company. If they followed through with all the promises they make, there would be a lot to say here. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Cons

dishonest policies and management, unrealistic expectations, lack of support when needed....i could go on for days

Advice to Senior Management

maybe McDonalds would be a better place for you

Pros

There are few jobs where you can enjoy as much freedom and make the same money that do not involve any sales. I found this job right after college. It was easy to get and very easy to do. My main duties consisted of maintaining relationships with people who bought houses and repairing them if the had any issues. The great part was that I worked completely in the field, I was only in an office about once per week and hardly ever had to answer to my boss.

Cons

Right now the housing industry is not a good place to be.

Advice to Senior Management

None