Lear Reviews in Detroit, MI Area

Pros

Career Advancement Opportunities based on performance
Working with Industry Professionals that are among the top 10 %
Recognition followed by Promotion
Average to better than average compensation
Better than average industry benefits

Cons

Top Grading practices means there is a annual review resulting in 10 % of the population being sent down to the minor leagues (JV's, other companies)
Time demands require 50 - 60 hour weeks as the norm in senior management
Excellent work is rewarded but their is no opportunity for mistakes
Survival requires a mind capable of operating at a detail level as well as 50,000 ft all the time
Delicate balance of working with customers and making profit

Advice to Senior Management

Develop a simple strategic message that can be communicated across the company to all areas of the organization. Example the old Ford communication ---- "Quality is Job 1" ----- and start to live that philosophy in every encounter with the companies employees and customers.

Pros

You own your work. Nobody was micromanaging me (I reported totally to 3 people over the years)..
Benefits were good - I did not realize that until saw other companies' benefits.
About 99% are really nice people.

Cons

I was bored. Economy did not support any kind of switch to more challenging work unless you wanted to travel to Mexico. Too many people are promoted because they are willing to travel and either don't care about leaving the family or are single - so they can travel.
Too many really great workers were let go for political reasons (in tight economy). Politics don't surface THAT much when things are good. Nepotism is there. A lot of old boys network. But that's in a lot of places - this is not a bad environment although I hear it is not as good as it used to be a while back.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't promote base on traveling availability - but father on competense - competense a lot of times saves travel time and money. Hold on to really contributing people. Be a little more progressive rather than reactionary.

Pros

Dependent on division and current management. Interior systems division vastly improved once it separated from Lear.

Cons

Traditional management direction at the very top. Nepotism very prevalent in decision making.

Advice to Senior Management

Bring new management in from outside

Pros

Lots of responsibility given to employees. You are allowed to take on as much as you can handle. Comraderie is developed among employees. Lots of change - a very dynamic environment. Nice campus. Global opportunities. Flat organization, with lots of upper management exposure. Open door policy of management.

Cons

Inflexible work schedule, no flex hours, long hours, poor company and industry financial position. Not supportive of work/family balance. Lack of technology or R&D investment. Regular salaried lay-offs over the years are stressful for employees, though an effective method for keeping a lean and strong team. Strong reliance on GM and Ford makes for difficult operating environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Find a way to trust employees with typical industry flexibility policies, invest more in R&D, and keep up the intensity on operating improvements.

Pros

Lear is a well run global corporation. Upper management does a good job of managing a lean operation and growing the company's business operations. Lear has an excellen IT department.

Cons

Lear is not as flexible as it could be when it comes to flex-time and working from home. A more progressive approach could mean happier and more productive employees who have more tools to balance career and family responsibilities.

Advice to Senior Management

Consider flex-time to accommodate employees' family responsibilities. Consider giving employees more opportunities for tele-commuting.

Pros

Global company so you will get the opportunity to gain experience and insight to issues facing colleagues in other countries.

Cons

Part of the automotive industry and very dependent on the health of the Big Three

Advice to Senior Management

More communication

Pros

In the area that I work, the ability to balance work and family life is excellent. I have never held a job in which I've been able to have this much flexibility. That in itself offsets a lot of other issues with the personnel decisions they make.

Generally, the employees are fairly close knit as well. There are attempts to have "fun" days such as "Michigan vs. Michigan State Day," and even a few on site employee luncheons.

Cons

Lear lays off employees at an alarming rate, even in the profitable times. They are also very short term thinkers, and seemingly rely on the stock performance to make their decisions rather than what is truly best for the product and the expertise. Lear seems to ignore true technological advances in favor of saving a penny, even if the investment in that technology will save them money in the long run.

Training is given lip service, but it has always been difficult to get external courses like software training or SAE development courses approved. It again fits the profile that Lear is not at all interested in the technological expertise that they have at their disposal, nor do they want to feed it.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management must have more faith in their engineering process and long term planning. They need to realize that they really aren't as very well trusted by their employees as they seem to think they are. They should know that the moment a company wide email goes out praising the employees as the backbone of the company, every employee gets ready for the inevitable layoff.

Pros

If you are hired, you will get good experience at whatever position you are in. There is a lot of engineering and manufacturing expertise in the company. Most people put in 2-4 years and then go somewhere else. If you know how to work the system, you can make a career out of it.

Cons

There is no plan for career development. Lear does not develop employees. Layoffs occur frequently and without warning. Many positions in engineering and manufacturing are being sent overseas. There is also a lot of bureaucracy. Lear is an old boys network and many people have their positions because they know someone.

Advice to Senior Management

Start rewarding excellence instead of mediocrity.