Arbeitsatmosphäre
There is no standard practice for feedback. Supervisors/Team Leads/Managers of course can easily provide feedback to their employees which is usually done in a very unprofessional and crass manner which is usually destructive criticism. The company does not provide an atmosphere of honesty and trust. You see most of the leaders exert ego, force, and status to get things done. You see people trying to hide their work for fear of other departments from 'stealing' them. Open communication is non-existent unless you count gossip which they have a lot of.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
Most of the supervisors have no clue what they are doing. These supervisors are placed in the position because of their 1) duration in the company and 2) ability to follow the above supervisor's commands. Skills (e.g. soft-skills, technical skills, managerial skills, etc.) are not necessarily taken into consideration. Goals are abstract and the strategies are abstract as well. Employees are usually not taken into consideration in the decision-making process. Escalation paths are arbitrary and subjective.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Colleagues do work closely together but only if you are in the same team and get along with people. Colleagues that are in different teams follow the political game of only talking to people that are beneficial to them. A lot of projects get implemented without the main stakeholders having a voice if the implementation team and stakeholder are against each other in the company's political environment.
Interessante Aufgaben
Yes, the employee has a little bit of influence on what he/she is responsible for especially when the employee knows his/her strengths and knows how to use them to create more value to the company. However, I have seen a lot of cases where the employee randomly creates a 'niche' responsibility that neither contributes nor is needed. But as long as you can be busy, then this is tolerated by the company.
Kommunikation
No proper nor professional communication. Employees are mostly blind about things. There are high-level strategies presented once a year or two for about 20 minutes but the communication on how these strategies will actually be implemented is non-existent.
Gleichberechtigung
It's a German-speaking, male-centric company. If you do not fit this category, then you can only go until some point. There are specific instances where an employee is not invited to a meeting where he is the main contributor mainly because he does not speak German and the other people do not want to switch languages. As an international company, they rely on German as the main language heavily in official and daily business and not use English as much as advertised.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
Yes, long-term employees are valued and promoted though lacking in competency, with unhoned skills, and has been a poor to below average performer. Duration in the company is highly rewarded here. Older, skilled colleagues are not usually the main candidates for the job. The brand is catered to young, vibrant, rebellious, extreme-sports enthusiasts so they make sure to hire people who look the part.
Karriere / Weiterbildung
Although the company offers trainings, it is not open to all employees. Learning and developing on the job is also not part of the package. Most employees are hired to do a task. The expectation is to do it. If you want to growth and development of the employee is not something that the company desires to achieve. Either you have accepted your role and is willing to stay within those bounds or if you want to expand, you need to go elsewhere.
Gehalt / Sozialleistungen
Salaries are paid on-time and a pension plan is offered. The salary is not enough to sell your soul. The salaries are not highly competitive either.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Yes, these office rooms are all very-well managed but a lot of relocation between the Wals and Elsbethen offices happens every few months. In the few years that I have been there, I have been relocated 4x.
Work-Life-Balance
This depends on what team you are on and what kind of manager you have. If your manager is a pushover, then expect a lot of overtime and work being done outside of office hours. As for holidays, they are usually lenient with this, thus the additional star.
Image
The image of the company is that it is young, cool, and no rules can be stopped. In reality, yes it is young (inexperienced and unskilled), cool, and there are many unwritten rules (politics).
Verbesserungsvorschläge
- Rethink the employees that you have and find ways to keep the actual working and valuable employees.
