Pros

An extremely large organization with range of location availability and international reach.

Had a great healthcare system in 2007, great 401k matching and vesting, but not anymore, see below.

Cons

Employees are not looked at as individuals.

There is virtually zero chance for career progression.

RRDs employs a sales management attitude not a strategic management one.

The corporate culture advocates saying "yes" to clients without questioning how to strategically fulfill the request.

As of 2008, due to the average age group of RRD's core employees and their poor overall general health including higher than average exposure to hazardous working environments in the print industry, all RRD employees have been subjected to higher than average health insurance premiums.

In 2008 HR policies were introduced stipulating that over five recorded sick instances annually may be grounds for dismissal.

Insufficient paid time off for new or existing employees. While I was managing a group, some employees PTO days were actually reduced to align with new nationwide PTO allocation policies.

Advice to Senior Management

You run the company as if you're selling door-to-door insurance and I doubt there is anything I could say that would be taken to heart by management to facilitate positive change.

Pros

Good work/life balance
Good understanding of systems
Good understanding of policy implementation to facilitate change and order for department.

Cons

Lack of promotions and/or development for top performers
Need to upgrade computers

Advice to Senior Management

Understand the importance of promoting and/or developing top performers.

Pros

If you are one of the chosen few you can work all the overtime you wish.

Cons

Work not steady with layoffs the norm. No merit pay, evaluations or any recognition for doing a good job. Losing benefits every year. Defined pension is such that you would have to work 83 years to make 50% of your average salary. No 401K match. Many crews only getting 23 hours of pay for weeks at a time.

Advice to Senior Management

Do a management shakeup in Spartanburg.

Pros

Its a job, and in this economy no other places around here are hiring right now.

Cons

You get no recognition, so there is ZERO incentive to really apply yourself. They keep cutting hours. Most employees have seen their salaries cut in half.

Advice to Senior Management

Let all employees get atleast their 37.5 hours per week, and atleast pretend to be interested in whats going on on the floor.

Pros

For the mid-West RR Donnelly provided a fair salary and benefits package. The people were really great to work with. Management was always available and very supportive. The hours were good and vacation time was very fair.

Cons

Not much mention of advancement. It is not that it didn't exist as much as it was not talked about.

Advice to Senior Management

Talk to your employees more about where they want to go in the company.

Pros

RR Donnelley is a great place to work if one does not have a life and could use a lot of fast money; however, this may lead to problems down the road as well.

Cons

In order to work for RR Donnelley, or at least at the plant for which I am working, one must give up there lives entirely. The plant for which I work enforces a mandatory rotation policy in which an employee must rotate every six weeks, most often from a twelve hour day shift to a twelve hour night shift with only a weekend in between the rotation (meaning, at times, one only gets thirty six hours off for their weekend and must completely rotate their sleeping schedule in such a time).

Furthermore, the company will not work around that policy for very long. They will not work around schooling, nor will they work around family issues. One employee at my plant is going through a divorce and desires to remain on day shift to provide some stability for her daughter, yet will not be allowed.

Moreover, the management team lacks the ability to communicate efficiently among themselves for the benefit of the employees; this often leads to poor scheduling and mistreatment of the employees.

Additionally, when one has a problem, HR is very rarely willing to work with the employee with their issues, thus the employee's do not trust that their issues will be addressed adequately.

In the bindery line on which I work, many employees are dissatisfied with their work, yet are unable to find another job due to the economic conditions; therefore, they feel that they are being taken advantage of greatly.

Overall, this company has proved to be quite hard on its employees and will not work around scheduling, making nearly impossible to have a life outside of work and very difficult to have a family. If you do have a family, I urge you, do not subject yourself to such a schedule.

Advice to Senior Management

The management as a whole works very poorly with each other as well as the employees; furthermore, they are very rarely understanding of situations at home or in a employee's personal life, thus making it difficult to have one.

Pros

Great place to work, nice people to work with, good work culture, takes pride in supporting local community with charity and social service

Cons

very busy work schedule, no tuition fee eimbursement benefits

Advice to Senior Management

need to invest a bit more in identifying, grooming and retaining top talent within the organization

Pros

There are some really good people, if you can find them. The do offer the ability to transfer to other locations if needed. They generally recognize strong people.

Cons

The management is terrible. There is definitely a "good ole boy" mentality. Some people are never going to be let go because they are donnelley old timers. Have to drink the cool aid to fully be accepted into the society. Also the company moves like a sloth. Some of their processes are so bogged down it causes customer complaints.

Advice to Senior Management

Move faster and be more flexible with your customers. It's not always your way or the highway.

Pros

I have opportunities for travel and personal development that I have had at no other company. I have had assignments for extended periods in Europe and Asia. RRD has paid for college-level courses to improve and update my skills. I have had great supervisors who have gone out of their way to make my work experiences positive.

Cons

Expectations for overtime and weekend work can be difficult to reconcile with outside interests and commitments. As in most companies not every supervisor is competent.

Advice to Senior Management

Find ways to distinquish the company with respect to benefits and opportunities for all employees. I have had exceptional opportunities while working at RRD but have seen others frustrated and held in situations that did not make use of the best skills.

Pros

Large size of the organization provides more job security than smaller printers.

Cons

Dealing with corporate bureaucracy. Corporate human resources, in particular, is out of touch, incompetent, and dishonest.

Advice to Senior Management

Quit trying to fix quality problems by moving more and more people into continuous improvement or six sigma roles... replace the dilapidated equipment, idiots!