Dead end job if you are an MBA or professional manager. - Anonymous employee Foster Farms Employee Review

Before you read this, go back about 12-18 months and read those management reviews. Predictions were made that came true: 1. Half of the marketing department is now gone, including a Senior VP, 2 senior managers, a Manager, and several ABMs. Finance, r&d, and QA have also lost leaders. This is because the company doesn't value it's top performers (note to HR: the fact that you moved "our people" to the top of the values chain but did absolutely nothing to support that is disgraceful). Ron Foster followed the old school philosophy that people should be happy that they have a job and that above and beyond performance should not only be not rewarded or recognized, but actually reviled. If it wasn't him and his small circle of corrupt chief executives coming up with the idea, it wasn't a good one, even if it ended up turning completely failing business units around. 2. Bonus tanked from 150 to the 90s in the span of 6 months, driven by incompetent leadership. Price of grain has apparently rebounded, which may turn that number around. But if you want to join a company whose success is based on luck, you probably aren't reading this. 3. Bad behavior continues to be rewarded. The ever corrupt operations function has seen numerous promotions despite their gross unethical behavior. Case in point: operations costs out products much higher than they actually cost which inhibits marketing and sales ability to price and promote right. Then one of 2 things happens: there is a successful launch and operations claims a large cost favorability at the end of the year, so they look like heroes, or 2) the launch fails, and marketing is nailed to a cross for not succeeding. Either way, operations wins and has undue influence on the rest of the organization, including influence on who in other functions gets promoted (never a positive influence). These are the same folks who don't believe in consumer data, are hostile in the weekly supply and demand meeting (literally screaming and cursing at other functions), say no to great ideas, and yet, are the same people responsible for multiple health code violations, bug infestations, installing equipment that has resulted in drastic product quality compromises (my wife won't even buy foster farms ground turkey anymore because it is so drenched in water and discolored from the new chiller system). And yet promotions all the way to C level abound for these folks while the rest of folks are condemned to wallow away in their roles for all eternity. 4. There is still no career pathing and all of the people who were trying to champion it are now gone. If a position opens up, they will not promote you. When they hire you, they will treat you like gold (anything to get you in). But you will be instantly forgotten, no matter how much you sell, no matter how great your ideas are, no matter how much you grow your business or money you save. They will always look to the outside. And that is why they have a skeleton crew right now. Every employee is ultimately expendable, but this company takes it to a new level. Not only will your great work not matter, but when you try to make a case to move up, they will resort to the lowest of low tactics to demoralize you and put you in your place. For instance: a role recently became available for a promotion. The qualified employee applied. He/she was told they needed to interview. Well, that person was scheduled for 6 interviews over the course of 2 weeks and 4 days, was stood up for the 1st interview by the hiring manager, was given a 5 minute rushed interview by the CEO, a hostile interview by one of the VPs, and a sales leader called this employee's former VP at a different company who was his/her boss years ago when the person was a new hire out of business school to get perspective. Basically they were determined to try to find a reason not to promote that person. And so he/she left, easily based on their business results. But this sort of thing is par for the course at Foster Farms. And that's why there is no one left. The smart people are gone. There are still wonderful people there, some who have been in their roles for over 10 years without promotion. They are still holding out hope that maybe the new CEO will fix things. I hope for their sake she does. But if you are considering a job here, be very afraid. This company's culture has been so run into the ground that it will not change overnight, new leader and all. 5. Be very wary of positive reviews on this site. It is HR trying to improve ratings. Ron Foster had a 50% approval not 6 months ago. Now it's 68%. And things have plummeted in those months. Mass exodus, bonus tanking, cultural upheaval.