ZEISS Group Employee Reviews about "upper management"

Pros

Sense of helping people Middle Management

Cons

Two decades behind in system Upper Management Takes advantage of high producing employees Limited compensation structure

Advice to Management

Catch up with internal systems. Move away form the albatross that is SAP, and move to a modern e-commerce platform that can actually work in today's world. United States can not be treated and manage as in Germany, customers here are different. What works in Germany does not always work in US.

Pros

Benefits, Travel, Culture, Growing, Employees

Cons

Very restrictive work atmosphere, questionable direction from upper management, behind the times in almost every facet, extreme restrictions in company spending, very slow to react, not proactive, controlled and heavily restricted by main headquarters in Germany.

Pros

Large stable company Pay is slightly better than other companies

Cons

I worked at Zeiss in Minneapolis, MN for many years, and while I hated the management and my direct manager, the lack of trust for management, and ever-constant disorganization throughout the company, I did like my direct coworkers and I loved my actual job. However, persistent bullying by the management forced me to leave the company. Zeiss in Minneapolis, MN is the worst company I have every worked for, or... heard of. Zeiss in Minneapolis, MN is very political and riddled with management hubris and genuine lack of care for their employees. The overall management at Zeiss in Minneapolis, MN is very disorganized, with a genuine lack of leadership skills, especially by the upper management. Employees frequently talk of unionizing, which would be good if the upper management was entirely replaced. There is no respect for upper management, low respect for overall management, and no respect for HR. There are no true leaders in upper management at Zeiss. Zeiss in Minneapolis, MN management is stuck in the Dark Ages. There is no working from home! The company is wholly disorganized, totally mismanaged, and has fundamental problems with organization, employee-to-manager trust, and following through with customers and their orders. Major mistakes are made and while other companies would use mistakes as opportunities to learn, at Zeiss there are no lessons learned time and again. Human Resources is completely useless. While I was located as an engineer in MN I had to report to a passive-aggressive manager who showed signs of Napoleon Syndrome, and very unusual personal behaviors that many find offensive and creepy. When trying to report the unusual and unwarranted touching and hand-shaking from this individual, I was told by HR that "this is just how he is and everyone at some point complains and accepts it". Employee suggestions for improvement are ignored by management. I have personally offered suggestions to a manager who then turned around and claimed that the ideas were her brainchild. At least once a year each employee is expected to attend a 7am breakfast with the upper management so that they can waste time acting like they care about employees and their department, job, or increasing productivity, but in reality it's an opportunity for employees to lynch themself or their colleagues. Not a professional setting. No work/life balance. The management doesn't care if you have kids or a family or a life outside of work.

Advice to Management

Stop mistreating employees, fire 90% of the (bloated) management, and change the culture so that employees aren't bullied by their direct manager

Pros

Unparalleled equipment quality; German engineering (what more can you say?); generally speaking, co-workers were committed people of tremendous integrity and intellect. Money was reasonable once you got into middle management.

Cons

Upper management took the focus from being out with customers to sitting at home office filling out endless CRM system requirements. Much more time spent doing "busy work" than being out with customers, prospecting, and creating value or finding opportunities to sell. Corporate culture was fun and engaging for a while, but it turned sour in just a matter of a few years. We used to refer to the president as the... "Seagull CEO" because he was loud, obnoxious, pissed everybody off whenever he came around, stole your food, and then crapped on you as he left to go do the same to someone else.

Advice to Management

Remove obstacles to selling, make less busy work for your sales force engine, and watch the results come in.

Pros

Saying you work for one of the most prestigious manufactures of optics in the world. Exciting technology. Field personal that to this day still keep in touch with.

Cons

The place is nothing more than a sinking ship. First sign for me was when the cafeteria was removed to save on cost. Second for me was when coffee was removed from the cafeteria and you were expected to provide your own. You know the place is taking on water when a free cup of coffee for your employees can sink you. There are employees based around the US that are required to fly back to hq once a month and stay in... a hotel all so they can work from a desk. Why??? Can that and spring for coffee. One is expected to learn all facets of your job with zero room for error on bare minimum training. I always laughed when the yearly "pulse check" enployee email was sent out asking everyone to basically lie saying how great it is to work there. Not a single member of upper management is to be trusted. They've all been there forever and are fixtures. How this is possible when now 1/4 of the building is unoccupied and is proving extremely difficult to rent out is beyond me. In short products are fantastic, culture and management is grotesquely deficiant.

Advice to Management

You're the problem.

Pros

Pay is good and so are benefits. Company will provide job training. Everyone in the company knows the good the bad and the ugly about management.

Cons

NO WORK LIFE BALANCE. This company is filled with managers who serve no actual purpose other than to collect a paycheck and treat employees like ants that they watch and burn with magnifying glasses. Management = HUBRIS From the middle managers there is no true care or concern for the customers or improving the company. From the upper management there is just a lot of arrogance, and finger pointing. Imagine... a company filled with intelligence in control, truly exquisite leadership qualities in managers, wonderful communication throughout and from their head quarters, and then think that will never be the description of this chaotic and disorganized place. Overall a lot of bad employee morale, backstabbing, deceit, and no true care about customers from 90% of the management. As long as there is someone below them to keep blaming upper management will continue to be selfish with their motives. This is a German company and there is bad communication from Germany. Upper management is really clueless about how to treat employees on a personal level. Most managers seem to hate their jobs and it shows. If the management wanted to fix problems then they'd send out anonymous surveys but instead send out BS surveys with options that are not accurate. Majority of managers have no leadership potential. General consensus that majority of managers are not needed. Typical management positions here are not traditional roles or duties. Not a healthy environment especially if you're looking for a career at a company. Let's be honest there are many other places to work and have an enjoyable time with people that care for their customers and feel that they are doing something good for the world and their fellow man. THIS IS NOT THAT PLACE! I can only think of a few useful and genuine managers who know their role in the company and actually know how to serve the customer.

Advice to Management

Fire 90% of the management, starting from the top down, read comments on Glassdoor and try to improve morale. There is so much bickering about mistakes but no true vision about resolving problems. All VP's here are worthless along with the president. Customers know how employees are treated here and when they decide to stop investing and pull out in this company it'll be too late to start listening. So much politics... just by management and so few leaders. The only upper management person who seems to know how to do his job and shows interest and concern is the finance VP.

Pros

Great products, and great co workers. That is about it.

Cons

Poor management, benefits expensive, no training or recognition. Upper management are horrible people. Only point out mistakes and not the good. No room for advancement.

Advice to Management

Fire everyone and hire people who actually know how to run a company.

Pros

Great brand and products; long time history in precision optics and technology; some hard working co-workers

Cons

Leadership is non-existing; upper management doesn't know how to run a company which has resulted in loss in revenue 8+% over the last few years. There's no employee recognition; people are taken for granted and not always treated well. Senior management represents old-school thinking in an ever-changing market and can't keep up.

Advice to Management

Change big time!!!