Martinrea International Reviews

Pros

The management were very supportive.

Cons

Single industry focused automotive Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier.

Pros

-Benefits package. (no pension, profit sharing or rrsp contributions)
-Close to the highway
-An ideal company policy that sounds really nice and assuring
-Paid lunch (only 20 minutes though)

Cons

-A large company that does not offer any job security what so ever, i have seen people with over 15 years let go before those with less than a year.
-No profit sharing, pension plan, rrsp contributions or even a year end bonus
-Rather than receiving a raise you are told to work overtime, which is insulting considering the size of the company
-Management is trained to push employees, which is extremely stressful
-No programs in place to increase employee morale. In previous years there were Christmas parties, summer bbqs an events for all employees. However now that Nick Orlando is the new CEO that changed.
-No room for growth, unless you are related to someone of higher stature in the company

Advice to Senior Management

-Management should aspire to motivate employees rather than intimidate.
-Employee morale is low, and should be addressed as soon as possible.

Pros

Pay is relatively decent for 40 hours of work.

Cons

No direction, "barking" orders, management is very unproffessional, lacking leadership.
There are no "new contracts" beyond 2013, therefore, no future and most staff have been there 1-2 years . One would have to work 60+ hours a week to complete regular work and addiitonal projects effectively.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve communications, offer training and/or provide work procedures and complete job descriptons for salaried people.

Pros

It's close to home. The other labourers are fantastic and the work is enjoyable.

Cons

Our division has a long and proud history of meeting and exceeding customer requirements. The current management makes it difficult to achieve these things. We don't understand where the company is headed, what the future of our facility is or how the vision has changed since the company bought us. What was written in the papers at the beginning of our relationship about the company and the CEO seems to be at odds with the current business model. The trouble is that most of the information we get is through third parties or simply imagined.
Good leadership would cast a vision toward what we're all working toward. Previous ownership and management always managed to do that. They invested in their people and were rewarded beyond the cost of the investment. This company seems to consider labour as an expense to be minimized. History shows what happens to companies with such limits. They fail to keep customers happy and disappear.

Advice to Senior Management

Cast a vision. Know where you want to take Martinrea. Know what role you want to play in the industry and with customers. Help everyone understand that they are part of something bigger. Let everyone know about industry trends and the economic indicators that are being watched and how the company is positioned to be a player. Previous management and ownership made it a habit and understood the rewards.

Pros

Lean company with lots of individual responsibility.

Cons

Lean company means you have to do everything with inadequate tools and no overtime

Advice to Senior Management

You should retain staff based on ability, not on those that don't disagree with upper management

Pros

Most of the staff is incompetent, so it is easy to look like a superstar. Other than that, there are really no benefits from working here. It might be important to point out that Martinrea is a decentralized company, so the experience from one facility to another can be drastically different.

Cons

Pretty much everything. No one wanted to work together. No one had a common goal in mind. It was pretty much a "that's not my job" attitude. After seeing them from the inside out, I am quite surprised they are still in business given the automotive downturn.

Advice to Senior Management

Reevaluate your leadership at each location. Hire managers that are actually capable of achieving your mission.

Pros

Pay was above average. Freedom to learn and experiment with equipment.

Cons

Constant uncertainty about the future. Never ending romours of lay offs and plant closure.

Advice to Senior Management

It's to bad there was so much distrust between the union and management to make this place great and keep it open.

Pros

Relatively healthy for an automotive company at this time. Interesting product mix. Lean philosophy can create opportunities to expand one's job function, depending on which manager one reports to. Most people are permitted to access senior management's open-door policy.

Cons

Financial focus of top management appears to drive knee-jerk changes with little regard to long term direction. Some managers create groups filled with "yes-men" and others who won't challenge them - this inhibits the potential of the company, and stifles those who could truly help the company achieve greatness. These insecure managers also tend to take credit for work performed by others, and don't pass along a share of any rewards/incentives they receive.

Advice to Senior Management

Appointing friends and family to senior management positions is not always in the best interests of the company. Being able to trust your managers is important, but they also must have the skills to accomplish tasks vs. talking-the-talk. Centralization of some functions can be beneficial, but the otherwise autonomous plants need to understand they have no choice but to use these agreed-upon centralized functions.