Management/leadership is a mix of toxic, ineffective, and under-qualified. Innovation is not valued and cost savings is more important than growth, employee benefits, and customer support.
Dishonesty among teams is common, but should be expected on any cross-functional projects. Commitments are made without any intention of follow through.
Many parts of the company are a good ol’ boys club. Racism is not prevalent, but exists in certain organizations. As a white male, certain directors and VPs were open with their biases in front of me. Upon reporting the inappropriate behavior, no action was taken beyond immediate retaliation against me.
It is more important to “sell” minor achievements than it is to accomplish major objectives. This leads to bizarre celebration of mediocrity and lack of focus on progress. Team and individual goals are revised throughout the year so that employee reviews are consistently adequate (This results in target bonus payout which is nice, but removes any financial motivation to excel. At the same time, it is difficult to take pride in your work when you know that the management will simply claim adequate performance).
Danaher business system experts are brought in continuously to help fix issues. This is not an inherently bad thing, but again there is no follow through or commitment to fix the identified issues. Reviewing years worth of kaizen events will show the same results and no improvement (focus on 1S and 2S). Also, huge benefits are claimed in kaizen events, but nothing truly changes day-to-day.
Overall, the company is stuck in the 1970s and is fighting hard to prevent advancement.
