The HON Company Reviews

Pros

The Sales Leadership Development Program is designed to build your capabilities to succeed in a territory management role within 24 months. (Business Development Manager)

Once you prove your capabilities as Business Development Manager, it is up to you to decide your career path. Many will stay in a sales role while others may pursue their passions in marketing, product management.

For the first 24 months (or less) you will be located at The HON Company's corporate HQ in Muscatine, Iowa. HON is about 2.5 hours west of Chicago Illinois.

Cons

Relocation is typically expected. You may not get to go to your dream market initially. Many choose to be promoted to markets they are comfortable with short term and may to position themselves for promotion to their favored market at a later time based on performance.

Pros

Good product and good benefits.

Cons

Too many plastic people. Too much turnover. Too many egos.

Advice to Senior Management

I have none. They're egos get in the way of their listening skills.

Pros

Great product. There are some fantastic people with wonderful knowledge and industry experience that I was extremely proud to work with. Fantastic Customer Support Team. Great new image. New products are being introduced all the time and they are more aggressive than they ever have in rolling them out.

Cons

HON internally has changed dramatically. And not for the better. People internally are disrespecting each other and stabbing each other in the back to get ahead. The trust, openess, integrity and honesty is gone and is being replaced by superficialness. Management is favoring people and cutting wonderful staff members and replacing them with young adults fresh out of college that they can mold. If you're fresh out of college and cute, call HON. Their hiring and will probably hire you. And they'll pay ridiculous amounts of money too even if you aren't all that talented. Just suck up to the right people and you'll do okay. If you're over the age of 40, don't bother. If you are not with the "in" crowd, you will go nowhere.

Advice to Senior Management

Like Jerry as a person, but not as President. He needs to re-take the helm and not let Sales continue to run every aspect of the company. There is something to be said about integrity, honesty and trust. A very smart man once said that the wonderful thing about HON and that sets us apart from the others is that we are not pretentious and we are not arrogant. Because when we get arrogant and pretentious - we will fail. It hasn't caught up to you. But it will. You know the old saying about karma...

Pros

Great benefits pay is good also. Great place to expand your mind. They will pay for your college education to get a degree not just classes that will help you on the job.

Cons

Sometimes the hours are long and the jobs are very labor intensive. Summers are hot and the plants are not air conditioned.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop outsourcing your jobs. You are losing good people and your customer service is suffering because of past management. You have good benefits and great people willing to do what it takes to make the company successful.

Pros

Great leadership that actively lives the corporate values. Empowered and engaged workforce that is energized to serve customers and succeed.

Cons

For some the location in Eastern Iowa may not be optimal. Many members live in Muscatine or local cities like Iowa City, Davenport or Bettendorf with easy commutes under 45 minutes.

Pros

Stable business, capable and caring upper management, good people at most levels (salt of the earth)...strong accounting department, most PMs are quite good and devoted to their work.

Cons

Middle management layer not impressive...somewhat cutthroat among the weaker links in the chain...i guess if they can't do it, they feel that they have to tear down others...a high level finance professional was taken down by a shady product manager who wanted the job

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of those who don't live by the "golden rule"

Pros

Learn Lean Manufacturing.
Co-workers are friendly.
Work on different things.

Cons

Too much "paper" lean.
Old technologies.
Managers favoritism.
Focus on short term solutions.
Upper management does not have clear vision.

Advice to Senior Management

Let employee do the right work. Don't give wrong direction.

Pros

Serious Pros: Understanding and patient managers (in my experience), great medical benefits, fantastic facility, great employee culture.

Silly Pros: Free fountain pop (i know, silly, but nice), bath and body works products in the women's bathroom, deep furniture discounts.

Cons

They require you to give your W-2 informaion before they give you an offer, giving them an upper hand in the salary negotiaions. All of the middle management staff sits in cubicles along-side employees. This leaves little space for privacy if there is an issue that needs to be discussed in private. Computer system is VERY outdated/complex and difficult to work with. A way to describe it would be tribal knowledge.
Slow-accruing vacation. Initial job training lacks (in regards to specific tasks).

Advice to Senior Management

Great company. See "cons" to get advice.

Pros

Good work ethic and work culture. Respectful of people. Balances work and personal life well. Not too much office politics. Before the recession perks and career growth oppurtunities were plenty. Hopefully good times will return soon.

Cons

Industry and company hit hard by the recession. Have been having a lot of layoffs. Work environment is stressful these days. No one seems to know when things will stop declining and there is little information coming from the bosses.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate more with the entire team. Times are tough but it would help morale a lot to know what management is planning / expecting down the road.

Why is the management still so top heavy?

Pros

The HON company is a good place to work but you will work hard. The pay is reasonable and the working conditions are tough but not impossible. If you have some drive and ambition and show you have technical savvy you can raise yourself up to a better position with patience and diligence.

Cons

Co-workers!! First they are mostly of the mind that all they want is to come to work , do the same job day after day, and get paid a lot of money to do it well. They do not want to share information about THEIR job because then they become less important. There are people that will make up false accusations to get you fired and take your job because the HR manager is his drinking buddy.

Advice to Senior Management

NOT EVERY ACCUSATION OF SEXUAL HARRASMENT IS REAL, SOMETIMES IT IS JUST A WEAPON.