TORC Robotics FAQ

Pros

Flexible schedule as long as it does not interfere in the project(s) that you are part of. There is a chain of command but the freedom you are giving to complete your task gives you a feeling of being your own boss. On top of that our benefits are amazing and the amount of vacation time gives you a good balance between spending time with family and work.

Cons

Being such a young and fast growing company we are constantly creating new and ever evolving ways of communication, organization, and processes for success. But in the middle of evolving there is challenges and mistakes you may encounter because a plan or processes to take care of them have not been developed yet. Sometimes this creates some stress when the project is close to deadline. But overall everyone involved in the project is willing to help i haven't dealt with anyone who hasn't been helpful.

Advice to Management

I've been apart of big companies and well ran ones at that. But as we grow it will naturally get less intimate in between channels of communication and a bigger separation from the top and bottom. When that happens I can only hope that we can keep our original values because right now we have something special.

Pros

Great mission of commercializing self-driving technology to make the world a safer place. Collaborative Environment. Enabled to execute and define my work. Great partners with the full backing of Daimler. Great place to be part of history...

Cons

Joining the company during COVID-19 pandemic has set up unique challenges, but the company is willing to work with you on accommodations.

Advice to Management

Continue with the open communications with employees.

Pros

- Strong leadership with proven methods of achieving success in a timely cost-effective manner - A super friendly atmosphere full of team players working to help you any way they can - Insanely intelligent workforce capable of achieving anything the leading tech companies can. Any state of the art topic you are interested in probably has experts employed ready to help you delve into that topic.

Cons

- The only con is that this is a newer company so some of the business system practices are evolving and changing rapidly. This is less of a con and more of something to be aware of that you will be a part of helping develop the standards this company follows long term rather than walking into something already established.

Advice to Management

- Don't lose your roots. Always remember where you came from as a small company and remember what worked well then.

Pros

Great culture, positive people, innovative and growth potential.

Cons

None to mention at this point in time.

Advice to Management

Wondering if you might consider a welcome pack of Torc swag to new employees. It would certainly help to build brand awareness and visibility for a great and growing company. Thanks!

Pros

- Lots of incredibly neat projects, Never a dull moment - Most people genuinely care about the work they're doing and the quality of the product - Flexible hours as long as you're working effectively - You can walk up to anyone's desk and ask a question: no need to communicate through an unwieldy branching management structure - This place is a nerd trap. Nerds: you have found your people. Welcome to the club of like-minded and extremely interesting individuals

Cons

- There are a handful of useless and infuriating people, but at a much lower percentage of the overall population than you'd expect at most companies - There is no means of employee ownership, profit sharing, etc. If I were able, I would invest every cent I could spare in TORC. I strongly believe in the future of the company and would like a means of investing in it. There's a nebulous 20% clause in the employee handbook, but that's not real. It's been described as the "TORC lottery" and counting on that as an investment in your future prosperity is about as serious as buying lottery tickets. - TORC is slowly losing a lot of the things that make working for a small company great as we grow. The powers at be seem to have little interest in continual cultivation of the great interdisciplinary and interproject cooperation that comes naturally to a small company but becomes a struggle in large organizations. It seems like managers are becoming more competitive and political putting their own projects over what makes the most overall sense for the company. Engineers can sometime get caught in the crossfire between managers with competing agendas. - Things seem to be getting factionalized and everyone in management seems to think their customer or project has the largest impact on the future of the company. It makes it hard to know what's actually important and to prioritize your efforts.

Advice to Management

Note: Like anywhere else, we have some good managers and bad managers. If you're one of the good ones, don't take this personally. - Managers do not (in general) make things happen. Talented engineers who are empowered to do their best work and are well-informed about project needs make thing happen. Mangers play a vital role (and one that I do not envy) but when self-motivated engineers are struggling to meet deadlines, bringing on new PMs is not the right solution. Heavy-handed management is also not the right solution unless your employees suffer from a lack of motivation. (which most TORCers do not) - The small company atmosphere has been good to TORC and has led to people being more dedicated, more personally accountable, and making better effort than they would as part of a larger organization. Don't take the continuation of this work ethic for granted. As the company grows this will need to be continually cultivated by empowering employees to take an active role in decision making, floating new ideas, and encouraging direct flat communication that's not routed through any sort of a hierarchy. Allowing for employee ownership, investment, or profit sharing would also help us hold on to our small company drive by giving everyone a personal incentive to put their best foot forward. - As discussed in the Cons section, resource planning and coordination between projects is a weak link. It's always the lowest people on the totem pole that are expected to put in the extra effort to make up for poor planning and coordination by overly optimistic managers who either expect people to drop all other projects to meet their deadline (their project is the most important after all) or to carry the project on hope alone. Everyone I work with is willing to put in a herculean effort to make things happen when an externality affects our ability to keep a commitment, but being asked on a semi-regular basis to put in a herculean effort due to a lack of planning, coordination, and foresight on the management team's part gets old. TL;DR: Don't lose sight of what makes us great. Double down on our strengths and don't take them for granted. If not cultivated, you'll miss them when they're outgrown.