HEINEKEN USA Employee Reviews about "great people"

Pros

Great people, fun company culture, family owned business still

Cons

Messy management, needs updated marketing initiatives, stop change

Pros

The strongest pros for Heineken USA are its company rooted in its traditional values with great people and great brands: Proud and passionate people really committed to the success of the business. A respected portfolio of strong brands that is just a pleasure to work with from the consumer, marketing and distributor perspective. I have been working with Heineken USA (HUSA) for a relative short time (Almost 4... years), coming from a different Heineken operating company I have perspective to compare HUSA with other Heineken operating companies, is really a small organization in the US so you get to know most people in the company in a relative short time and also you can start making a personal brand in relative short period of time. It truly is a great, fun and flexible company to work for from all aspects, you are expected to work hard deliver results and you will be fairly compensated for it and growth opportunities will come your way. They have good training programs when you start and once you have showed your commitment and value as you acquire leadership roles they will invest in your development, they are willing to develop you if you are willing to put the time and effort required to absorb the experiences your current role has to offer and demonstrate them in your work with results and the right attitude. There is a good mix between new talent and steadier talent. There is cultural, gender and origin diversity starting from the top management cascading its way down the ranks. If you are willing to put the time and effort that is required to show your value with results, do your networking and (very important) are willing to relocate you will get promotions and opportunities about two(ish) to three(ish) years in to your role, is a company where you can truly make a life career if you are inclined to do so. Strong management team committed to win that is approachable and open to feedback. Pay is fair, with the usual benefits for a large company (Matching 5% of 401K, high deductible insurance plan, etc.) Like in every company a recent change of CEO has brought a lot of changes (both in structure and in strategy) majority of the changes positive like strong focus on key brands / channels and shift of resources to key areas.

Cons

There are really no downsides to work for Heineken. I am sure we way better than most companies when it comes to climate and work perks Work life balance: is really up to you. Because of our industry we don’t work conventional hours in the field sales, however they do in the support teams and the company does all it cans to encourage work life balance with policies like summer hours, work from home arrangements if... needed, maternity / paternity leaves, generous vacation policy, flex time arrangements, etc. However if you want to work 80 hours a week there is enough work to do it and no one will tell you no to do it. Again really up to you. An area of improvement could be to have steady leadership that doesn’t change every 3 to 5 years that way you develop stronger relationships with distributors, authorities, customers and even employees that in this industry still count for a lot. Org change: there is some every 3 to 4 years but tell me about a company where that isn’t the case, new management or not, this is a sing of company evolving to respond to its market, consumers and customers trends and needs. Is it uncomfortable? Yes. However an executive that can’t deal with change is really a poor executive and change brings good opportunities to hard working and bright people.

Advice to Management

Keep narrowing the focus and clarifying the priorities, this is great. Do not dilute resources (money, time, efforts, and programs) in brands that are not strategic. When we do innovation lets go ALL IN on it. Just like we have a great internal job positing system make the international (global) job opportunities available on a systematic basis to all viable candidates. I love the “if is 80% right just F*** do it”... mentality, we should do something to expand that throughout the company!