L.L. Bean Reviews

Pros

Good work/life balance, nice people, casual working environment. Company makes a good product and stands by it's products, so you can feel proud to work here.

Cons

Sometimes it seems disorganized, there are a lot of initiatives going on at the same time, and if sometimes feels like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

Pros

Family & outdoor recreation oriented
Good discounts
Low level management receptive to new ideas
Above average and motivated staff makes for a pleasant work day

Cons

As a mid sized business LLBean is extremely slow to innovate new ideas. It's a very conservative company that been served well with this style of management.
Advancement within the company is difficult
Is trending towards a younger workforce by pushing out older, more knowledgeable staff

Advice to Senior Management

Now that the economy and company are back on the upswing increase your training of employees and mid level management. PROMOTE from within as well as bringing outside talent.

Pros

Real family atmosphere. Great discounts at L. L. Bean. Freeport is great place to live.

Cons

Almost everyone working there is over 45 years old, have been working there a long time. Some seem to forget how good they have it and end up complaining a lot.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to get younger.

Pros

they offer good benefits but the management makes it not worth working there....i am not happy with the manangemtn.

Cons

the management is not trained and does not know what they are doing. There is no room for improvement and do not get much time for family.

Advice to Senior Management

learn how to do your job. allow room for improvement, and allow your employees to have some time with family.

Pros

Great outdoor programs. The bean values!!!

Cons

1.      Open door policy? Don't bother.
2.      How can senior management not knowing what is going on? All decisions/actions being made by this leader are costing company time, money, vendors' relationships and MORALE.
3.     As long as you manage up and tell them what they want to hear and even if you have disrespectful, abusive behaviors like bullying, insulting and threatenig others are still keys to success.

Advice to Senior Management

When a director has a complaint files that is as thick as a novel, pay attention and listen~!!  

Pros

Company values; view employees as family; fantastic work/life balance; clear commitment to fostering professional development; leaders genuinely care about the success of their employees; fantastic benefits; a company that is trying very hard to navigate a tough economic time of change while always thinking of its stakeholders (employees, customers, environment, etc.).

Cons

Slightly lower compensation than if outside of the state of Maine; mid-level leadership in operational areas is improving, but still has some ways to go. Ongoing change management in a competitive, difficult economic environment is resulting in an emphasis on increased efficiency - a good thing, in my opinion, but one that some longer-term employees find difficult to adjust to.

Pros

Thoughtful, considerate, friendly, low key environment

Cons

Standing on my feet all day long

Advice to Senior Management

Increase the pay.

Pros

Family oriented. Good pay. Excellent benefits. The company lives its values...strives for excellence and has great integrity in all they do. If someone posts negative items, they are usually disgruntled employees.

Cons

It takes a while for a seasonal to work into a year round position. Business comes in cycles so there are great times and lean times.

Advice to Senior Management

Communication is essential to driving the business forward.

Pros

Exceptional benefits; great work / home life balance; wonderful location; family owned; excellent brand; strongly values the community and the environment as corporate stakeholders; when people come to work at L.L.Bean, at lower levels in the company, they want to stay for their whole career

Cons

Senior management reacts too heavily to small extrinsic business influences; promotions seem to be offered on multiple standards and "likability" rather than actual performance and results; office politics rely heavily on relationships rather than the issues at hand

Advice to Senior Management

Be more open to communicating business strategy to the work force and do so more regularly. Be open to taking more calculated risk when entering into new ventures or when considering new ideas. Rather than dive into the tactical details of decisions, trust the people in lower levels of management to do their job and hold them accountable when they fail to produce the results they sign up for.

Pros

flexible, good wages, good atmosphere

Cons

opportunities for growth were slim

Advice to Senior Management

none