Motorola Reviews in Chicago, IL Area

Pros

Exciting technology
Innovative and friendly people

Cons

Lacks long term vision
Too much risk averse

Pros

Nice facilities ie, gym, bank, basketball court, day care, ping pong, pool. Recognized brand name, decent benefits, some smart engineers work there.

Cons

Too many politics, performance review system where there has to be a bottom 10%, company not in good shape, morale is low

Advice to Senior Management

Improve software quality, ship products on time, try to differentiate products from competitors, make salary and benefits more competitive, promote information sharing and cooperation

Pros

you can find some people who created this industry. i was lucky to have worked with a few of them. some folks still are the best in industry.

Cons

but thats about it. in a few years they will retire, leaving the place to the wannabe's. unfair promotion. excessive politics. quarterly layoffs, frequent reorgs, project cancellations and some groups are led by absolutely incompetent people who, as shakespeare had said, "had greatness thrust upon them". and are unable to handle the responsibility being so doused with their newfound promotion. multimedia group, case in point. its best to avoid that group. people leaving from his group every week and the leader unable to see who's mistake it is. but then some other groups are really a great place to work - dsp, modem and chipset architecture. so, choose wisely - is my advice

Advice to Senior Management

promote to leadership positions only those who deserve it. improve the promotion turnaround time for hard working engineers. pay a little better.

Pros

Motorola offered the opportunity to move around in different areas from which you could grow and develop your portfolio. Before the divestiture of the Networks business, it was a place were hard work and making the bottom line mattered.

Cons

The problem I found, moving up in the ranks, was the top echelon of management remained in place using the same approach they may have had success in with legacy products in the quickly evolving and changing landscape of telecommunications. They became, overtime, complacent, comfortable and were no longer viewed as a true leader.

Advice to Senior Management

Get out of your comfort zones, know enough about your rank and file so that you can have passionate debate and not have to micro-manage.

Pros

Great people, great products, and people in the line business are committed to success. Good sales teams and large share of the equipment business in key markets.

Cons

Poor senior leadership, short term focused, lack the ability to articulate a vision and then deliver on that vision.

Advice to Senior Management

Become a wireless solutions company, and build a end to end solutions business. That means applications, consulting, and end to end integration services.

Pros

Experience was really good at Motorola

Cons

Was tough to get placed after internship

Advice to Senior Management

Be positive

Pros

interseting challenges, cutting edge technology, competent staff, develop good working relations with co-workers

Cons

Extremely poor senior management that is not in-touch with reality at ground level. Too many private agendas pulling in different directions and as a result cannot have focused effort towards common goals. Much talk about team efforts and this exists amongst some development teams but not a higher levels.

Advice to Senior Management

Truly develop a long-term plan for success and try to resist the temptation of short-term rewards via cost reduction efforts that require cutting key assets.

Pros

Huge Market Share & Global Leader in Public Safety Communications

Cons

Good Old Boys running the show, not very quick on their feet

Advice to Senior Management

The Management of Motorola Solutions needs to be quicker to adapt to the changing trends in the industry (software, marketing tactics, and sales compensation plan).

Pros

Working from home seems to be permissible across the board. Individuals you meet are not representative of the headline statement.

Cons

Poor benefits. General low morale. Salary "not competitive" with industry. Advancement opportunities are very limited unless you have a very strong network of contacts.

Advice to Senior Management

Scrap the notion that only a manager controls promotions. Allow key-work-partner feedback to surpass direct manager's head to his or her manager.

Pros

- Work-life balance
- Casual environment, flexible timing
- Good amount of paid time off
- Good flexibility in terms of working from home
- Good arrangements for working mothers/parents and part-time students

Cons

- Not enough opportunities to grow personally or professionally
- Good performance is only recognised when there is enough budget
- Senior management doesn't take any of the hit for their mistakes and bonuses of employees plummet

Advice to Senior Management

- Listen to comments from employees at the lowest levels as well, as that is where the inspiration of the company lies
- Encourage new ideas from employees rather than competing by copying other companies