Sherwin-Williams Reviews in Cleveland, OH

Current Employee – been working at Sherwin-Williams full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good exposure to new technologies.
Ample room to grow in terms of deploying initiatives internationally.
Very difficult to be fired.
Lots of opportunity to work without supervision.

Cons – Below average benefit package.
Average salaries.
Little room for decisions.
Management has little to no experience on international deployments which result in mismanaged projects.
A lot of emphasis on caring for the employees but there is little effort by the company to actually implement this message.

Advice to Senior Management – Employee performance should play directly linked to raises, there seems to be little encouragement for an employee to perform at a level other than average.
The company needs to recognize its focus on IT and adopt practices from the industry. There is little understanding on how IT employees should be treated in today's market.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Sherwin-Williams full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – stable company
some perks, free coffe, tea, etc...

Cons – * Longevity is valued over skill and knowledge, which doesn't make any sense in the software development world.
* People with a lighter skin pigment tend to get promoted faster.
* Tuition reimbursement policy that only covers 4.5k of yearly tuition expenses.
* Arcane software development practices.
* Shell script based version control systems, no documentation, no real design phase, no investment in QA teams (developers end up testing the software they built or worse, low level associate developers who never really even know what they are testing end up rubber stamping code changes).
* Salary is not negotiable.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Sherwin-Williams full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Solid company, competent senior leadership

Cons – variable middle manager talent level

Advice to Senior Management – more incentive based compensation

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Sherwin-Williams as an intern for less than a year

Pros – The company had an excellent work atmosphere with respect to dress code, work expectations, and deadlines.

Cons – I found nothing wrong while working for the company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Sherwin-Williams full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – The company has great benefits and vacation policies, holidays off and they provide all the tools necessary for the employees to be able to perform their job (laptops, blackberries, conference rooms with projectors, flat screen TVs and network connections everywhere (wi-fi as well) for better meeting experience). My job was extremely rewarding, I had always a great deal of work to concentrate on and continued to grow with every project/meeting/process. I had great co-workers, lots of laughter and chatter while at work, I give thumbs up to Sherwin-Williams for supporting such a relaxed atmosphere, it helps greatly reduce the stress from the work and allows for employees to 'mingle' while working to create great networks and build appreciation for the others around them.
The dress code is business casual with most Fridays being jeans' day. Travel is exceptional, the company ensures that those on the road are safe and enjoy their trips. I had to travel within North America while employed there and all the accomodations, the arrangements and the trip were excellent!
The fitness facility is not very new but nice, they offer to wash your clothes and provide towels. There is a tennis court by the R&D facility down by the river, open to all employees to use, can be scheduled months ahead of the season. There is a nice basketball court as well right next to it, it's nice to see people enjoying their lunch hour while getting healthy.

Cons – The growth opportunities are not many and sadly, those that exist get assigned for the most part to familiar faces and employees who network best, not necessarily those that have more experience or knowledge and are more qualified. However, HR is working on a competency matrix to resolve some of these issues and make the process easier and more fair.
There is a lot of politics happening between the company walls, it reminded me of Survivor. It comes to that sometimes - play the game or be voted off, literally. Upper management is not always easy to approach and talk to. They seem to want to follow the 10-year plan w/o considering the fact that the employees (within their own organization) must come first else no plan will be accomplished.
I had no 2-3-5 year plan, just a yearly review from my direct manager. If one has all the patience in the world and is not very driven to achieve great career goals, then that would be a good place for them. If you are looking for a clear career path into upper management, then you might have to pick another company. Like many have already mentioned, there are lots of 'baby boomers' and 'old timers' which is in one way good (low turnover rate) but also not so good because it doesn't allow for 'fresh blood' to come in to the company from outside or even from the entry level positions within the company.
Boys club 101 is offered daily there, again - sadly!!! There are so many highly educated, qualified women stuck in either entry-level or Sr. (w/o direct reports) positions while the 'boys' around get a helping hand to move up surprisingly fast.
HR - well, I think no reason to comment much, just that the company is as good with them as it would be w/o them. It appears they deal only with the hiring process and firing process, nothing else.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to what the employees have to say, read through the lines in the yearly employee satisfaction surveys to find the best areas to focus your efforts on. I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best mentors/leaders while employed there but I also have had the opportunity to work with rude, self-consumed and 'how-in-the-world-did-you-get-this-job' type of leaders.
Keep doing the excellent job you are in terms of company goals and strategies! But do not forget that in order to get there, you need the support of the employees which would only happen if they are satisfied with the job, appreciated, and rewarded properly (not all size-fits all rewards).

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Sherwin-Williams full-time for more than a year

Pros – Benefits, opportunities for growth, pay

Cons – Work/Life balance, stores being open until 8 at night

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Sherwin-Williams part-time for more than a year

Pros – Sherwin-Williams is a big company with a lot of opportunity, strong growth and stability. They've been around since the industrial age and will be for quite a while as long as they keep their heads in the game.

I was a co-op student there and I learned a great deal from my mentor and co-workers. They were very flexible and understanding in terms of my school schedule.

This was in the heart of the recession and they saw fit to keep the research groups going strong so they would come out of it even stronger. I got to work with a wide range of innovative products and even travel a bit. I have since moved on of my own accord but I would go back if a suitable opportunity presented itself.

Cons – Typical office politics, so watch yourself in the same way you would anywhere else. Big Company corporate culture can be difficult to grapple with. The company is often driven by marketing (at least my group was) leaving employees to contend with a few ill-conceived products and projects. The words "what in the world are they thinking" came to mind a few times when dealing with marketing.

I left because my particular field was mechanical and not chemical, leaving me little room to move up at the time (they have since improved, so I hear). Chemists and Chemical Engineers can go far here, so can the folks with business degrees.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep an eye on the marketing folks, sometimes they overstep their bounds. With S-W's business being so dependent upon raw materials, petroleum products etc there could be difficulty in the future for such a large company as the world population grows. S-W will face increased competition for supply, markets and intellectual talent.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Sherwin-Williams full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – decent salary; balance of work/homelife

Cons – treated like your title; no real guidance/ leadership; too political

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Sherwin-Williams full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Good people, good work and lots of opportunities
opportunity to work in a global environment

Cons – slow pace of work, but it always depends on your immediate manager
situations can become very political sometimes

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Sherwin-Williams full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Stable, 7.5 hour work days, OK standard benefits (health, 401K)

Cons – Very conservative, stale, bad offices, no opportunities for growth, expensive daily parking, shitty maternity benefits, paradise for beaurocrats

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company