Westfield Reviews

Pros

Many oppurtunities for advancement in the company.

Cons

The company changes processes often

Pros

Good benefits package with good medical and 401K

Cons

Ruthless style of leadership by senior executives
Senior leadership completely out of touch with reality and how hard and long the majority work
Nickle and dime you when it comes to paying bonus
Quick to criticize, hardly any praise when job well done
No work life balance at all for anyone in management level or above
Change systems and procedures almost annually

Advice to Senior Management

Senior Leadership Team need to get a grip on the pulse of the majority of employees and start treating people like human beings that actually have a life and family outside of work. If the economy and employment improved today I guarantee 85% of your workforce would leave at the first opportunity.

Pros

Well known company to be put on your resume

Cons

Extremely high turnover at certain departments of the corporate office
So much politics
Work you like a dog
Unrealistic deadlines all year round, you hear me, all year round, not just a month or two

Advice to Senior Management

Start caring about your employees who put in those insane hours for you

Pros

Relax atmosphere and camaraderie in our department.

Cons

Industry pay in retail is inherently low but you work in a technical job.

Advice to Senior Management

If possible, make the facility technician / plant operator pay competitive as in some industries like hospitals, etc..

Pros

Learn best by being thrown to the wolves? You can succeed if the environment doesn't overwhelm you.

Cons

Very aggressive environment; led by intimidation. Expectations sporadically and frequently change.
Nepotism is alive and well.

Advice to Senior Management

Valuable people aren't always valued. Please stop the games of favoritism.

Pros

The IT department needs a lot of improvement, and as an employee, you might be able to participate in that improvement.

Cons

No individual respect or appreciation is given to it's employees. Everyone in IT is made to feel as if they could be replaced tomorrow if need be.

Advice to Senior Management

Delegate responsibilities. Trust your IT staff to know what they are doing and let them do it. Encourage ownership and value your employees. Don't let your employees continue to think they are replaceable. There is value to employing and retaining quality people.

Pros

Decent benefits; collegial and friendly working environment; great people for the most part; family friendly (depending on department); great Westside (LA) (corporate) location.

Cons

Institutional changes at a snail's pace; communications between departments could be better; recent cutbacks have led to certain departments being understaffed (causing some to be overworked or things "falling by the wayside").

Advice to Senior Management

Stay the course and keep the Westfield culture, but don't use the economy as an excuse to cull staff levels too deeply - some cuts have been penny-wise pound-foolish.

Pros

Compensation and Benefits Package
Good people to work with

Cons

Long Hours
Recognition not there for jobs well done.

Advice to Senior Management

Let people know (verbally or a note) when they've done good work on a difficult task.

Pros

If you want to learn about the shopping center business this is the place for you

Cons

If you are looking for a stable work environment, you might want to think twice since management changes about every 3 months. Everything is left to the last minute and is constantly changing which makes for a tough job since policies and procedures are changed without notice

Advice to Senior Management

Streamline!

Pros

If you're in center managemetn, the day to day experience really depends on the management team you work with. I've seen/heard about some awful experiences, but have mostly experienced great center management.

Cons

They are a very top-heavy organization. There are too many people working at corporate and not enough people at the center level. People at corporate seem to have forgotten what it is like and what is needed to work in a center. With each new VP comes a whole new set of rules and programs and vision for the company. They need to come up with a direction to move the company and go for it instead of stopping and starting on a new/different path each week.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior Management needs to realize that each mall is different- different shoppers, community, etc- and they can't give us a cookie-cutter outline and expect it to fit all malls. They need to listen to the center management team more and figure out what is going on in the centers before they can effectively manage them. Some of the highest VPs havent even been to all the centers- how can they tell us how to run them if they dont know what they're like?