Microsoft Reviews

Pros

Some of the brightest brains in the industry.
Lot of knowledge and scope
Variety of technologies to work on.

Cons

Performance Review System is bad.
Promotions system is not transparent
Compensation is not good
Management leaders dont have technical expertise.
Lot of politics

Advice to Senior Management

Promote team work and reduce rivalry.
Have more collaboration between groups.
Have more technical people in the management ladder

Pros

large scale challenges. you get to work with very smart and passionate people.

Cons

very poor management which leads to frustration during annual review cycles..

Advice to Senior Management

stop running microsoft like wallmart or GE.

Pros

Microsoft has a great set of benefits including free soft drinks. They provide access to training and

Cons

Microsoft is all about windows, office, exchange, SQL server and sharepoint. Don't try to innovate outside of these products.

Pros

- Smart peers, opportunity to work on cool products
- Quality of intellectual work product
- Stimulating work
- Pride in product

Cons

- Corporate culture is not as pleasant as it could be
- Productivity is reduced by internecine warfare ("politics")
- Corp leadership promotes only in their own mold, so org deficiencies are unlikely to be addressed
- Not entirely supportive of women. Impossible to work there as a single mother.

Advice to Senior Management

Leadership is invariably sharp. The issue is whether there is a WILL to improve the culture of the workplace. Recently, company has become top-heavy and unwieldy; difficult to respond competitively.

Pros

There are some very smart, passionate people working there. When you're on a good team it doesn't seem like work. Employees feel excited and empowered. The pay and benefits are good and many people have their own office.

Cons

Your career growth and rewards are highly dependent on how well you get along with you manager, how much they'll fight for you, and how well they know how to work the system and how effective they are at it. Depending on your organization, there can be a lot of reorgs and your experience and time at Microsoft account for 0 if the leadership doesn't know you. Lately, Microsoft has been making sweeping changes such as "a person must be at X number level to have Y position" despite whether or not individuals have been working in and doing well at Y positions for years. Rather than promote the individual to the new level requirement, they are told they can no longer have that position.

Advice to Senior Management

Changes in leadership have changed the company from a place where employees felt open to challenge each other and do amazing things to a company where employees just want to work the system for promotions and titles. Employees in various orgs fear that challenging their management leads to destroyed career paths. Leadership should not just look at those who manage up well, but look down into the company and see how the culture is changing...and not in a good way.

Pros

Very flexible in time and vacations

Cons

Work/life balance is not available if you're looking for a promotion

Advice to Senior Management

Encourage and coach your employee to excell

Pros

work with smart people, requires you to be on your toes

Cons

Microsoft has gotten very bureaucratic and decision making is slow. Also, no one wants to collaberate at all. No one respects Steve Ballmer and most can't wait for him to go adn this is a drag on morale. It is depressing to work for a company when the stock price has remained unchanged or over a decade.

Advice to Senior Management

Replace the chairman, require teams to work together and punish those who don't.

Pros

Excellent pay, good benefits, and free sodas.

Cons

Upper management rarely concerned with projects or teams.
Right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.
Large, bureaucratic organization that moves at the speed of continental drift.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay attention to what's going on in your own department and stop worrying about your career or your house on Orcas Island for 10 minutes.

Pros

benefit is good compared with other similar companies

Cons

total compensate is a little bit lower than competitors; slow and inefficient; not many opportunities

Advice to Senior Management

need to be more agile and efficient for upper management

Pros

Great work life balance
Energetic people

Cons

Get lost in the crowd

Advice to Senior Management

More 1-1s to promote growth