Pros

Up until three years ago Shaklee's core value was to provide the best product, at the best price and for the ability for our distributors to have a home based business while spending more time with your family. For employees it was the opportunity to enter into a family like work atmosphere where you were rewarded (not just financially) in a way that made you feel like you were doing your part to help the business and make a difference. Management continually communicated with it's employees and with honestly. As an employee there was a fair opportunity to advance and you knew that the company would consider you first before pulling in an outsider.

Cons

Within the last three years the company has gone from the aforementioned to a company which still making it but at the expense of its employees- low morale, lack of support and mental distress. The core values appear to have been pushed to the waste side and a focus has been made to more of a personal gain for the CEO and his name. Issues like the push every year to release a product without complete preparation, last minute changes which normally take weeks are expected to be done overnight, the lack of support, fairness and recognition for it's employees and finally the ability to be able to conduct the work you were hired to do are just a few areas which have pushed the morale to all time low.

Executive support is limited and the mentality of "Just get it done so he's off my back" is pushed off to the employees doing the work. There is a strong opinion among employees that the executive provide limited information to the CEO and most of the time issues and problems that arise only come about at the last minute of a deadline when they could have been resolved long before with plenty of time. This has resulted in finger pointing and infighting among employees rather then a complete product and proper resolution.

Advice to Senior Management

Show a genuine attitude towards professional and employee growth. Try bringing in a few new employees with salaries that total 250k and can get the job done rather then hiring ONE executive making 250k who travels around the globe, submitting big $$$ expense reports and making unrealistic goals and improper decisions. When you first meet a candidate and hire them make a note of their job skills and what you liked about them. Then when you assign a project to them look over that list, refresh you memory as to why you hired them and let them create or do what you want done. Stop suggestion boxes and get out and talk with the employees. Do impromptu CEO conversations in their cubical. Show, not talk about how you care about your employees, what they think and their ideas. Ensure that there will not be backlash for negative comments or ideas that go against what the company is currently doing. Stop company waste .... the ridiculous expenses the company reimburses for, the waste of time on last minute changes which could have been done long ago, the waste of positions where people are truly only working 4 hours a day. Go back to the old fashion values hard work, honesty,integrity, faith in your employees