Panduit Reviews in Chicago, IL Area

Pros

Good business overall although its disappointing that they need to send so many jobs out of the US

Cons

A little less red tape would be nice

Advice to Senior Management

More opportunities for professionals would be a great way to grow the business

Pros

Some benefits are coming back .

Cons

There is no loyalty to employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Go back to the days when Jack Caveney lead Panduit it was a well respected business then.....

Pros

pay air close to home

Cons

lay offs no pay raises everyone is out to get each other. if you are not part of their clicks you will never last in this company

Advice to Senior Management

not good all lies

Pros

Great product innovation. Great people.

Cons

What out for HR. we are no longer treated like a valued resource now we are just a human resource. HR herds employees like cattle. Whats your number? Leadership is not demonstrating the strength to pull all initiatives together.

Advice to Senior Management

Get back to your roots that made the best want to work for Panduit. Train your people better.

Pros

None, other than the friendships I created with my coworkers.

Cons

Benefits are constantly being cut. No employee morale. Managers who lie to your face. No advancement oppurtunities. Now that they had so many layoffs, everyone has to do about 5 people's jobs at once. Employees being disciplined for things out of their control.

Advice to Senior Management

Sell the company to someone who cares about their employees.

Pros

Good people do work here.
I think if they really need your talents, they are competitive to get you on board.
Free Parking.
New HQ building on the way!
While personal development can be non-existent, there are smart people you can learn from

Cons

I could list some vague downsides of Panduit life, but what will that really tell you. Here are some of my actual experiences at Panduit:

My informal survey over the years shows that one of the main reasons people work at Panduit because it is close to where they live. Everyone wants to live near they work, dont get me wrong. I love a short commute. It is not a good sign when this is a PRIMARY reason to work somewhere. This is how to choose a parking spot or a Starbucks, not a serious career. This is NOT a knock to my fellow employees. This is a knock to the management of Panduit who cannot give its hard working employees a better reason to come to work.

A conversation with a production person has always stuck in my mind. This skilled operator said that, 'if or when they lay me off, I am going to get a job at Jewel...' Two things first off, aint it great to live in fear? Second, this experienced and skilled operator saw as much career promise as a new hire at Jewel as they did as a 5-10 year Panduit veteran.

Speaking of fear, fear is a tool at Panduit. If I had to choose a single pervasive feeling at Panduit I would said this it is Fear. Fear that you will lose your job, makes you happy just to have it. Fear to complain keeps you quiet. Fear of failure ensures you will never succeed at any thing significant. Fear keeps you from learning anything new. Fear does not reward initiative, fear rewards mutual fear.

Summary:
Short drive is best reason to come to work
Career potential at ALDI = Panduit. (apologies to cart boys everywhere)
Your enemies should fear you, not your employees

Advice to Senior Management

Treat your employees as adults.
Fear is a tool of tyrants.
Try to believe that most employees want success as much as management

Instead of hiring yet another HR person to work on the moral problem, actually do something. Everyone doesn't need 7% raises to be happy. A 50 dollar gift card for christmas would have had everyone happy for months.

Pros

The work is really not that difficult, they have decent medical benefits, and as long as you keep your rates up and do not take excessive sick days you dont have to worry about losing your job.

Cons

They do not take care of their long term employees. They continue to raise the starting wage without any compensation for long term employees, so basically someone who has worked there a year make about $1-$2 less that someone who has been there 10 yrs. The HR department is absolutely horrible. There is very little chance for advancement, although if you have a degree your chances are slightly higher. Favoratism runs rampant, if you are not a brown-noser you will not go far. Some foremen are better than others, however most of them never have an answer for even basic questions. You are given sick time, if you use it you are punished. The review system is a joke, the people that are liked do well, others do not, or average. There is never any guarantee of a wage increase (past 3yrs) and if you do your lucky to get .25 an hr. increase.

Advice to Senior Management

Guarantee rewards or bonuses for good work or perfect attendance. For example, a $100 bonus for perfect attendance, or .50 increase in hourly rate if your numbers are above average all year. No one wants to work hard all year just to hear "sorry can't do it this year, but have a jacket". Also you might want to consider rewarding or compensating people who have been with the company for a long time, instead of taking away 5, 10, and 15 year rewards, while increasing starting wages for new employees.

Pros

The people I have worked with are excellent - smart, nice, extremely supportive and of high integrity.

Cons

Benefits are terrible. Telecommuting is not permitted (except by exception) and this, in my opinion, throws a wrench into creating the kind of flexible, balanced atmosphere we seem to be seeking. The company is still very small-town minded - something that worked in the past. But to succeed in the future, we need to change that perspective into one that is more global.

Advice to Senior Management

Employees come first. Customers second. Without employees, we will not be able to establish and sustain customers.

Pros

Large company
Very well known in the professional world.
Known for being best in quality, treating customers very well, and standing behind their product.
Has extremely intelligent and polite employees that are passionate about both their coworkers and being their best for the company,

Cons

Insurance always on the way up
401k on the way out
Fear of being Next to be walked out.
Quickly declining value in being an employee.
Poor compensation.
Employees being squeezed for every penny while blowing tons of cash elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

The big picture is more important that micro budgeting.

Pros

Was a great, really great place to work when we were a bit smaller. Lots of camaraderie, trust, integrity, and the products and service were of top quality. i was proud to work there and proud to tell others that I worked there. Good location if you live south of city, flex time, and many, many nice AND hard-working people.

Cons

However, those days ended sadly. The review process just completed and no matter how hard you worked, how often you exceed your goals and how many extra hours you put in, you simply cannot get a better than average performance rating. This is patently unfair and will demotivate people even more. And sad but true, this is what is mandated from management.

Advice to Senior Management

Please realize that you can do many great things and that you have many great people who are willing and able to do great things... but please also realize that you cannot do everything. Take your list of top 15 or 20 goals and using good leadership, pare that down by a couple. After all the lay offs, you have only the cream left and I wish you would realize that. Stretching and being challenged is a good thing but continual overwork is having a bad effect on morale. Please also open your eyes and see that there is a level of chaos being perpetuated by some managers. Once the economy picks up, you will want to keep your best talent but my guess is that many will leave faster than you imagine. There is still a strong culture of pride and achievement at Panduit; please do your best to cultivate this and let it blossom before it erodes any further.