Pioneer Hi-Bred Reviews

Pros

The pay, benefits and merit increases were very competitive and fair. Often adjustments would be made to management employee salaries to bring them up to par with similar industry wide positions salaries when necessary. Actual job and responsibilities and working environment were also great.

Cons

Far too many programs rolled out each year that wasted time and productivity only to never work or accomplish anything. No time off - as an agronomist you have to expect to be busy during the growing season but it became ridiculous. I often had 30 days of PTO to use and would lose most of these days. As a member of the location management team I assisted in merit/raise decisions for hourly employees and it was shocking. These employees would receive insulting 5 or 10 cent an hour raises - the leftover merit money would go in chunks to us - the management team members. Safety program was impressive but turned in to a situation where if you broke a rule you were fired, yet if you took time to do things safely which hurt your productivity - you were probably reassigned or let go. Limited opportunity for advancement regardless of what you've heard.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more involved and proactive with your individual locations. Go there, observe, talk to all employees. Take a hard look at you location manager and assistant managers - you need some fresh faces and youth. Too much of the "Good old boy" network - until you get rid of that, you'll always be left in the dust by Monsanto.

Pros

lay back working enviroment, not really stress out too much at work

Cons

no one sees your effort.

Pros

Emphasis on safety. Part time benefits. Good overall compensation package. Training/development opportunities.

During the late 1990s, early 2000s, management repeatedly shrank research budgets/centers/salesmen, until one day someone realized that Pioneer market share had been decreasing for 10 years. Voila, pump $100 million into research and the performance of products is improving.

Cons

According to the DuPont safety principles, "management is accountable" for safety, but every single accident report always pins the blame on the employees.

Management sits very cozy in private offices while regular employees are being crammed (one new building has hundreds in one room) with short cubicle walls. Employees are screaming in protest. Impossible to concentrate while people around you are talking loudly. Management refuses to admit a mistake and keeps repeating "This is a pleasant and productive work place".

Management spends way too much time meeting with Wall Street investors.

Too many HR personnel with not enough to do, so they make needless changes to paperwork and policies every year.

Advice to Senior Management

If you keep reducing the quality of office spaces, employees will leave and recruiting will be hurt.

During the annual budget panic, don't re-evaluate all approved travel and positions. Re-evaluating is a huge waste of time for everyone. Just delay new travel/position requests.

Pros

Leader in industry, considerate and responsive to their employees with a competitive compensation package. Open door policy for employees and respectful of their workforce.

Cons

There is not much to complain about. They are hyper sensitive to diversity and safety. Operates in a volatile industry.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue spending on research and development to assure excellence in products and services. Continue investment in information technology and maintain autonomy.

Pros

The projects involve interesting, scientific work. Benefits are decent, better than most on Des Moines.

Cons

As said in an earlier review, there really is no chance for advancement based on merit. Work is frequently kept hidden so it's not claimed by management. Work techniques aren't shared. Change is discouraged unless one gets a manager to claim it as their own idea. Recognition and choice projects are all based on connections and politics. Everyone, especially who gets promoted, is all connected somehow, related, frat brother, etc. Upper management is never held accountable for mistakes or worse. Employees find out about important events via news media before being told at work.

Pros

In general the company has a decent salary, benefits package, however the bosses recently cut pension and retiree healthcare. If you want to you can usually stay where you're at for a long time. Des Moines has some good places to live and schools are fair.

Cons

There is no chance for advancement based on merit. Lack of diversity, everyone, especially who gets promoted is all connected somehow, related, frat brother, etc. Upper management is never held accountable for mistakes. Employees find out about important events via newsmedia before being told at work.

Pros

Given the opportunity to manage multiple projects and learn new areas of research.

Cons

During peak times, there was very little down time. Based on the increased workload during these times, everyone would have to put in very long hours to be able to meet the required tasks/project deadlines.

Pros

The company is growing and leads this field.
Nice pay and safe to stay there.

Cons

Des moines is a little boring.

Pros

Not many, but I guess all the training teaches me everything I need to know for the next company I work for.

Cons

This company does not walk the talk, for example they say safety comes first but the job demands are so high that a large percentage of employees disregard rules because this is the only way they can get thier work done. Everyone knows safety is another way to say mitigate liability exposure. If you are an independent thinker you do not want to work here there is basically no room to affect change.

Advice to Senior Management

Back off and let your employees enjoy life rather than force 60 hours work into a 40 hour week.

Pros

The company has a list of ethics.

Cons

The department I worked under in Johnston, iA had too many people pulling in different directions, resulting in conflicting directives.

Advice to Senior Management

Top-down management strategies do not usually work in the long run. Also, no one enjoys being patronized in lieu of meaningful conversations with management. What's the "purpose, process and payoff" in that?