Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Reviews

Pros

Autonomy. Or whatever is left of it. The best darn cigarette in the industry, period.

Cons

The trade senior directors preach about leaderships dimensions, yet don't demonstrate these qualities themselves. Everyone down to the AE's recognizes this. What is just so funny now is watching them scramble for mobile candidates to promote. There aren't any! Folks, this is the beginning of the end to what once was a very nice company. What a shame that the incompetent and inhumane ELT has trashed it.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop fighting like dogs to be the pack leader. Unite and rally what you have left. And fill your own leadership dimension cracks.

Pros

Nothing. Not anymore. I mean, the pay is good and the benefits aren't terrible, but none of it makes the rest of the stuff we have to weather these days even remotely worth it.

Cons

Well, let's see.

Senior management doesn't communicate well with employees, if they bother to at all. There's one particular member of the senior management team who favors using corporate buzz-words and obfuscating matters instead of being up-front with us. They seem to believe that we're children, incapable of understanding or being able to accept things, which is incredibly offensive.

Promotions are given out based on favoritism rather than considerations like skill or aptitude. I watched people who were wholly and completely unqualified for them be promoted to management positions just because they were friends with folks in senior management, while folks who were qualified weren't even given the opportunity to apply for those positions. In fact they weren't even told that there were management positions available, and only found out once those promotions were announced.

Lower-level management also plays favorites, giving certain people within their teams ample development opportunities while other employees who are just as capable end up being passed over. It's really difficult to get enthused when you know that one person is always going to be chosen to head up new projects, and not even because this person is necessarily any more capable, but because this person is buddies with management.

On that note, management just plain plays favorites. There are several folks who are allowed special treatment. For example, if you don't schedule time off in advance, it can be difficult to get a particular manager to allow you to leave early if you need to, even if you have the PTO to cover it. However, this manager's favorites can come and go as they please. There is also a particular member of the team whom this manager allows to take extended lunch breaks. The rest of us are restricted to half hour long lunches, but this person can, and has, taken up to an hour and a half before.

The marketing department is given special treatment. They can pretty much make up their own hours for all intents and purposes, and it's not unusual for them to take day-long "brain-storming" sessions at the local brewery. Worse, they're not particularly competent. They've screwed up pretty badly several times in the last couple of years, and as if that's not bad enough, the rest of us have to clean up their messes. We have to make excuses to angry customers because these "golden-children" can't seem to be able to do their job with any measure of professionalism.

Employee reviews are conducted largely by senior management, which consists of a group of people who don't often interact with the employees they're critiquing, and who probably wouldn't be capable of understanding or empathizing with them even if they could be bothered to. I was personally dealing with deep depression last year. I did my best to put it aside and focus on my work, but it wasn't always easy. I still got my work done and kept my level of professionalism consistently high like it always was, but I admittedly didn't always look like I had much enthusiasm for it. And often I didn't, because that's kind of how depression works. Instead of coming and talking to me about it, senior management decided that I was only there to collect a paycheck and that I didn't have any passion for the job. That's not the case at all. I loved my job, but sometimes life takes a toll on a person, and it's not always as easy to separate one's personal life from their work life as these people think it should be. So I got a less than favorable review, all because I was dealing with some tough stuff and these people couldn't be bothered to talk to me about it like management ought to do. Hell, just like human-beings ought to do.

 Then there's all the Reynolds stuff. They've come in and made sweeping changes that have gutted the company. Where it was once a family environment, it's now just as stark and corporate as any other company out there. It's pretty obviously all being done simply to make the RJR shareholders happy, which has made it impossible to believe in the company or the product anymore. I've seen fantastic people be thrown under the buss and tossed aside, while the folks who will remain after the axe drops are some of the most self-serving sycophants I've ever met. RJR has sucked everything of value out of the company, leaving nothing more than a brand name that it can exploit for as long as the public remains largely clueless about what's happening behind the scenes. It's become a terrible company to work for, and if not for the awesome folks I work with and my equally awesome manager, I'd go nuts trying to keep it together in the midst of all this soul-sucking that's going on.

Advice to Senior Management

My immediate manager is fantastic. I have no complaints about that person. The rest of them are so far gone that I don't know that any of my advice would be heard, much less taken to heart.

Pros

Salary was great and advancement for hard-working individuals was available. Benefits were fantastic and PTO allowances were outstanding. Plus, the travel and expense accounts were fantastic.

Cons

After the RJR merger in 2002 most employees expected the worst, however a CEO was brought in who fully understood what made the company great. However, after 7 years at the post, he was run off because he (allegedly) did not want to move back to North Carolina and take on the role of Reynolds American's CEO puppet. Due to that, in 2009, the current CEO, NB, was brought on from his most recent failure with GFI (an international wing of RJR/RAI that took care of SFNTC's international groups along with other RJR/RAI brands).

Within just three months, the new CEO made some drastic changes that completely demoralized the employees and destroyed the culture of the organization. It is not clear, but NB either orchestrated or was forced to carry out the will of the powers that be at RJR/RAI, and removed the employees who felt that they were tasked with preserving the culture and spirit that made SFNTC a great company to work for. After that, as they say, it all began to go downhill.

As it stands right now, according to peers still involved in the organization, RJR/RAI took the most incompetent employees to Winston-Salem and left the good ones to rot.

Advice to Senior Management

Look yourself in the mirror every morning and ask yourself if you are proud of what you have done to what was once one of the best places to work in New Mexico. Was it worth it?

Pros

Pros: Good benefits, fair pay, great co-workers

Cons

Cons: This company only cares about the bottom line, execs & sr management likes to rate employees on 'leadership dimension qualities' but exhibit few of the qualities themselves

Advice to Senior Management

Survey? Listen and act on what you hear. Care about your employees. Get rid of those at executive level who are out of touch and care only about numbers. people count.

Pros

The compensation -- that is it ... this company used to be one of the best places to work for until RJRT got involved heavily in 2007 -- and like always, big company politics change the culture and structure, to the point of no return.

Cons

I never have given my heart and soul to a company that in the end treated me so foul. I won awards, contests, etc. here. I was considered at one time a front runner of the position. Upper Management here reminds me of being in high school. If your one of the cool kids you can be part of their clique and get a promotion regardless of your tenor, or what lack of accomplishments you have done. There have been so many promotions here were people have been here under 2 years and did not even master their current position, but because they were a "chosen one" they were deemed fit for management. Upper management loves to use words here like "networking" , "change" , and "transparent". But what makes me laugh is they make the rules and change them all the time, and exclude themselves from their own rules. My supervisors planned trips and visits in the field around night life bars, and were under the impression that rules did not imply to them, and that it was ok to say inappropriate innuendo's. Very unproffessional management was here (not sure about now -- keep hearing very inexperienced now) My boss at one time, told me you had to be part of a clique to get a promotion, and that it did not matter how good your reviews were, or what your accomplishments were. The "good old boys" network is strong here as well, loaded with favortism and politics.... If you speak up about wrong do'ers with power here -- their friends (with power) will not forgive you and hold grudges and not ever speak to you again. This is regardless weather or not being right or wrong. This company says they are a family company, but more times than not get ready to stay and sleep in a hotel, or on the road somewhere away from family. Also, when I was here the health insurance was next to awful. I could have almost paid for insurance on my own for what their costs was to insure more than one person. If you are a single person, right out of college, or in your mid 20's, and don't plan on having a life, maybe you should try here .... I never in all my years of working have seen a place turn into this result, and I have worked for much larger companies. In my opinion this is an awful place to be.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop being hippocrites -- practice what you preach -- stop favortism and inexperienced performers getting promotions -- and please, let's stop kidding ourselves about a merger with RJRT .... The writing is on the wall !! One may read my review and say, what a bitter and disgruntled person -- that's fine ... But what about the other dozen or so reviews that have a lot of similarites to mine? Are they all wrong and disgruntled too? ... Santa Fe -- maybe you need to "change" ?!

Pros

Nice Insurance package. Nice company care. Good product line to represent with a name retailers know. A few old timers still work for the company and can tell you stories that will help in the field.

Cons

Management is young and does not have a clue about how to sell Natural American Spirit cigarettes. They need to step back and take a look at the brand. Current management are all RJR employees (Former management has all been fired or asked to leave). If you want to advance you will have to learn to kiss butt and make sure you only answer any type of question with the answer management wants to hear. No room in this company to have or express your personal feelings.

Advice to Senior Management

NAS Cigarettes are not sold like Camel's. Maybe you should ask old employees (if any are left) about how proud they used to be to represent Santa Fe Natural. Now its like working for any run of the mill cigarette company.

Pros

fair pay, lovely home office, great product, love the brand, love the people who still are on board, love how it started, love the way we used to be proud of what the company once was.

Cons

Way below average ELT (executive Leadership team) no concern for employees, ELT won't tell the truth in spite of claiming to hold the truth and share it.

Advice to Senior Management

Please, let folks know we are in the late stages of being absorbed by RJRT! Do you think we don't get it? Live like you pretend to aspire.

Pros

Salary is good but lower than sister company for similar roles. Company car. All benefits are same as RJRT (sister company). 401k match, decent (not wonderful) paid time off.

Cons

Executive Leadership is poor and inexperienced. Micromanagement to the 10th degree at every level. They track start and end times of exempt field sales reps and continually have "talks" with field reps about everything they do wrong. Little praise is given when one does something good. The company dangles a carrot over succession candidates to get them to behave like lapdogs begging for a scooby snack hoping for a promotion that doesn't exist. Only single, apartment renting individuals are promoted to the few positions that become available. You must be willing to move to a minimum of 12 places to be considered for promotion and then only if you are a chosen one (which means you are a campaigning yourself to management like a governor candidate). Management leads by fear and will crucify anyone who disagrees with their opinion or suggestions. It's like they can't handle that someone might have a better idea than them so they'd rather not hear it. They expect everyone to follow them but preach about leadership dimensions. There are no true leaders at this company but a group of inexperienced individuals who were promoted because they would relocate and they spend their time micromanaging every aspect out of fear of being criticized themselves. The culture here used to be fabulous and it was a happy place to be. Not anymore. The only thing this company has going for it is the fact that it has a niche product at the right time and it continues to grow despite itself.
Job expectations: Field reps have 600 sales calls to make quarterly, Key Accounts Reps have in upwards of 40-50 chain headquarter calls in 2-4 state territories so vast that there is no humanly way possible to meet the expectation unless you sell your home and live in a hotel 7 nights a week.
The majority of the employees are hoping and praying for RJ Reynolds to merge the 2 companies sooner than later.
Evaluations: They believe in a full management panel process so everyone in management gets together for a week to talk about each field rep and decide if the employee is worthy whether or not they've ever met the person. They thinks it's fair. It's not. Why? because the sales job is highly demographically driven and some territories are not going to sell the product while some are saturated with it. So there are reps in CA that are rated highly and don't do much because all their accounts have the product in distribution and then there are reps in other parts of the country where the product doesn't do well and they are penalized because of it. It's difficult to sell a premium cigarette to an impoverished population.
One last thing: If you sneeze wrong on scratch your nose and someone in management sees it, you are pulled aside and told you are ruining your credibility. Ridiculous.

Advice to Senior Management

Get over yourself and listen to the feedback of your sales force. Just because someone doesn't want to move across country doesn't mean they are not good. Stop the competition and campaigning of your entry level management and field reps seeking a promotion. You are boosting your own egos when encouraging this type of behavior and it puts everyone on edge. Contrary to what you want to see and believe, this is not a high-performing culture. It's a very unhappy culture. Unhappy employees are not good employees so maybe that is why you feel the need to micromanagement them incessantly. Give a little, get a lot. is that too much to ask for?

Pros

Pay and benefits

If you survive long enough it looks good on resume, great company to get a foot hold in and use as a stepping stone to a professional company

Cons

Advancement: Can be fast if you look good (male or female) along with finding your way in upper managements pocket (place instrument, sing, suck up, have friendships, etc). No real exp. or knowledge needed.

Middle management: The favored children who baby sit the lower force. There purpose is to do nothing but find fault/praise with whom the upper management wants moved up or removed. This creates a useless, non-trained middle management with little credentials/credibility, who give no respect and receive less. Great job if you can stomach the role, great pay with ultimate power (as long as it doesn’t interfere with upper managements feelings/motives), who always has someone to take the fall for them.

The company’s favorite words are transparency, that’s why they have meetings to do nothing for a week but talk about their sales force in closed private settings. No real evidence is presented at these meetings and employees are never informed or given any chance to defend themselves. Thou it is said that numbers drive these meetings, numbers don’t take a week to look at (They are looked at monthly) and everything leaks from these meetings anyway (they cant even trust each other) causing massive damage afterwards as word comes down who was abused, favored and not liked. Based the majority of the time on hurt feeling and opinions with nothing to back them up except more of the same. This behavior does not represent a major company’s management principles, but Santa Fe Naturals management is young and has little true management training. It’s all about how to climb that ladder and placing your allies, no matter whom or what is in the way.

Advice to Senior Management

Finish the RJR merger, at least they are transparent.

Pros

If you are mobile and willing to relocate, the moving package is generous enough so you pocket some big cash.

Cons

The infiltration of RJRT employees into Santa Fe has negatively impacted the spirit of this company.

Advice to Senior Management

Diversity? It is true what someone else said here in another post: if you are a female, you will hit a ceiling at entry level management.