Synaptics Reviews

Pros

Great colleagues
Fun environment to work in
Open environment and knowledge sharing

Cons

Too many incompetent first line managers
HR is not your friend

Advice to Senior Management

Be more agressive in removing mediocrity from the system.

Pros

Fun place to work; lots of celebration

Cons

Too many politics; should be more open-door policy

Pros

They treat employees very well with many fun events. The fringe benefits are good. Overall good pay with total pay being a little above average.

Cons

The HR group has incredibly high turnover. The cubes are really small. The IT group is understaffed and overworked which leads to lackluster support. The company should hire more IT professionals. There should be a mechanism to reward above average employees, right now the difference between above average and slightly below average is nonexistent. The forced distribution of ratings is a horrible method for rating employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Do better at rewarding your best employees, establish a good roadmap that evens out the peaks and valleys. Find a way to give employees a better work environment (bigger cubicle or even windows)

Pros

-my team was cooperative with each other and we support each other
-my supervisor was easy to communicate with and easy to work with
-we able to effectively communicate with other member of the company with work-related tasks

Cons

-sometimes not responsive on tech support
-not all test equipment up to date

Pros

Profitable company - good benefits - competitive salary - bonuses

Cons

Senior management don't engage well with the work force. Lip service is given to innovators and personalities are allowed to override experience.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the workers, and give them credibility for their profession. A stronger personality should not be able to override business sense and decision making, nor should the executives 'do as I say, not as I do'.

Pros

Lots of very smart, motivated people. Good corporate culture of wanting to win for the right reasons. Lots of opportunities for lateral movement within the company.

Cons

Poor upward mobility. Management sometimes lacks the nerve or will to make quick tough decisions. Upper management doesn't always do a good job of managing downward.

Advice to Senior Management

Increase your appetite for calculated risks, and learn how to make good decisions more quickly. Learn how to trust your middle-management team more so that you can focus more of your efforts on corporate strategy.

Pros

The management style is very casual. Intra team interaction is fostered and encouraged. Work is challenging and rewards are fair.

Cons

Visibility for wor requires a lot of social interaction. At times the work style is very reactive instead or proactive to industry requirements.

Advice to Senior Management

A little more transparency on company policy wold be very helpful to employees in terms of knowing expectations without having to land up in a case by case kind of situation.

Pros

Some of the best tech people.

Cons

The company needs a new vision and target market as capacitive sensing is saturating with too many companies selling cap-sensing chips.

Advice to Senior Management

Current management change has been positive however, due to legacy resources and tradition, company is not able to make radical changes and moves. It needs a sustaining effort for cap-sensing and a new high-profit domain for margin.

Pros

Exciting technology and company has benefited from boom in smartphones- they did very well in 2009. Run loosely like a startup with parties and socials. Direct managers are among the nicest people to work for if you are fortunate enough to be placed with the right one. Very innovative company.

Cons

Difficult to get recognition. Even when accomplishments are noticed by senior management, rewards are few. Compensation is generally low. HR needs significant work and turnover has gotten very high. Hours can be long versus the compensation.

Advice to Senior Management

Re-evaluate reward and recognition practices- turnover has gotten very high and is harmful to longterm business and this is not getting recognized. Invest in new product development aggressively.

Pros

Synaptics was an exciting place to work but very intense and short driven. The company lacks strategic direction. The HR organization is poorly run and these leads to significant unrest and turnover within the company.

Cons

Long hours. lots of travel and little opportunity for recognition. Synaptics needs to improve employees opportunities for work//life balance. Long hours and constant travel are seen as badges of honor rather than signs of an unhealthy work environment. HR is known for hiring from the outside without consulting or involving key stakeholders in the decision making process.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve communication, hire and promote from within.