Out of 11,000 companies surveyed, Gibson Guitars is the worst place to work at

[Holy War]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BF0N320091216

lol

[electracoyote]

Glassdoor.com?

I visit the Gibson Guitars Acoustic factory in Bozeman, Montana regularly, I have befriended several employees. Every time I go there, I get the impression it's a very healthy and happy work environment.

Maybe they surveyed the Nashville factory.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by electracoyote

Glassdoor.com?

I visit the Gibson Guitars Acoustic factory in Bozeman, Montana regularly, I have befriended several employees. Every time I go there, I get the impression it's a very healthy and happy work environment.

Maybe they surveyed the Nashville factory.

Well, they must not voice their opinions of their job to you for fear of being sued.

[McHaven]

You have to remember these surveys are all voluntary by the employees. Typically only the most outspoken and disgruntled employees will bother with the time to take the survey.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by McHaven

You have to remember these surveys are all voluntary by the employees. Typically only the most outspoken and disgruntled employees will bother with the time to take the survey.

either way, the very bottom of 11,000 companies. Let me say that again, the very bottom of 11,000 companies

If what you say is true, then its still an even playing field all across the board. I hate to say it, but Gibson these days really bites the big one and the top tier of the business needs some serious overhauling.

[modulusman]

I live about 5 miles from the Gibson factory in Montana. I also have friends who work there. Two who have been employed by Gibson for about 15 years they both like their jobs.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by modulusman

I live about 5 miles from the Gibson factory in Montana. I also have friends who work there. Two who have been employed by Gibson for about 15 years they both like their jobs.

Like I said, this survey must reflect the Nashville factory, or maybe the Epiphone overseas division. My brother-in-law lives in Bozeman. Last time I visited, I checked in at the factory, said "howdy," looked over the fresh stock, and they pointed me to a sweet Custom Shop Hummingbird they had just sent over to the Music Villa. That one set me back a few grand, but it's one of the nicest dreadnaughts you'll ever play.

Those guys take a lot of pride in their work, several have been there a long time, and I've never heard a discouraging word.

Now the electric division has had some issues lately, and that might be the source of the discontent.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by electracoyote

Like I said, this survey must reflect the Nashville factory, or maybe the Epiphone overseas division. My brother-in-law lives in Bozeman. Last time I visited, I checked in at the factory, said "howdy," looked over the fresh stock, and they pointed me to a sweet Custom Shop Hummingbird they had just sent over to the Music Villa. That one set me back a few grand, but it's one of the nicest dreadnaughts you'll ever play.

Those guys take a lot of pride in their work, several have been there a long time, and I've never heard a discouraging word.

Now the electric division has had some issues lately, and that might be the source of the discontent.

I dont think the survey would have focused on just certain divisions of a company. Take the airline guys for instance. Why would they survey just the ground grew and not the pilots? Just doesnt make sense.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by modulusman

I live about 5 miles from the Gibson factory in Montana. I also have friends who work there. Two who have been employed by Gibson for about 15 years they both like their jobs.

Maybe the other places are just flat out outstanding to work at?

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Maybe the other places are just flat out outstanding to work at?

Thats what Im saying. Just because youre on the outside looking in and everything looks kosher, doesnt mean that it actually is.

[playinpearls]

unles things have change A LOT its not the nashville factory. I was there for a short time from 2000 to 2001, almost a full year. Carpal tunnel forced me to quit. Everyone I met there seemed to love coming to work every day, and most employees i met were there at least 5 years. I was there 2 weeks and the gave me a xmas bonus of 110 dollars. Cash. They walked us right into the front lobby and one of the big dogs was standing there with 2 suit cases full of cash. I knew people that got over a grand that day.


If it was epiphone, it would have to be oversees because the facility here only employs about 50 people other than the big dogs... Most of them receive from oversees and do final setup on the guitars after they come in. My guitarist worked there, and had no complaints too...

[Holy War]

Ya, you guys must all be right and reuters lied. The whole story and survey is slander

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by electracoyote

and I've never heard a discouraging word.

And the sky's are not cloudy all day...

[electracoyote]

Well, it's common knowledge that surveys and polls are what they are, and it usually isn't a flawless science. It is interesting that they included such a small company. I'm guessing that between the Electric (Nashville) and Acoustic (Bozeman) divisions, including sales reps, Gibson employs around 200 people. That's a pretty small company.

I wonder how Fender did in the survey.

[neurotictim]

From the Glassdoor.com website:

Apparently submitted by employees, edited by me only for the purpose of spacing.

Pros

Good people overall. Great to be a part of the heritage of this classic American brand. Mecca for a guitar player.

Cons

An absolutely bizarre culture that top-to-bottom seems to revolve solely around trying not to upset the CEO. Meanwhile the erratic CEO seems to always be upset or flying off the handle about, well...anything. I've NEVER seen anything like it. So many smart people, who want nothing more than to give it their all, and do great work for this company that in many cases they were huge fans of before coming to work there; are reduced to keeping their mouths shut and keeping off of the CEO's "radar" by any means necessary. You will hear the phrase "stay off Henry's radar" echoed again and again by all sorts of folks top-to-bottom in the company.

Smart, creative thinking (or just plain logical thinking) is completely stifled in this environment. Through this culture Henry has cultivated, talented folks will routinely choose NOT to do what's best for the company/product/brand, but instead will choose what is most likely to keep them from incurring Henry's wrath.

The degree to which nobody seems to be willing to make a decision about anything is staggering. NOBODY wants to be the one to have to take the blame for anything. Doing so might make them accountable to Henry, and who knows what he might do on any given day? As a result, the buck gets passed indefinitely. Either that or employees begin cutting each others throats so as to avoid blame. Seen that happen WAY too many times, and it's always ugly.

Very often important decisions that require immediate attention by management simply get "submitted to Henry" directly which is a vague, nebulous, meaningless gesture. There's rarely ever an answer from Henry, and if there is you may be waiting months for it, at which time the situation will have long since turned into a crisis.

Information does not flow in this company. Strategies, goals, sometimes even basic product information are NOT communicated.

Morale is generally very low. I've heard the phrase "the land where nothing makes sense", repeated by employees from two different divisions in two different cities. That is not a coincidence.

Advice to Senior Management

I honestly don't see anything getting better under Henry's reign. He's been running the company this way for so many years, there is little hope that he will change. I've watched SO many smart, talented people walk out of this company in complete frustration. The best and brightest leave for better opportunities and better work environments. He needs to understand that the culture that exists in Gibson right now is sick. Not unlike the "sick culture" that Henry himself says existed in the Norlin-era Gibson when he first bought the company and took over. He remedied that by firing everyone at the time. Well, it's sick again. Really sick. Only this time, Henry himself has cultivated the sickness. That toxicity has trickled down to every fiber of the company. He needs to understand that he's got a LOT of smart people willing to do great things for this company, but it's all for nothing unless he positively affects the culture from the top, down. Unlikely to happen, but that's what it will take.

And quite literally all but a handful of reviews say the same thing, if not necessarily as voluminous.

Seems to me that the problems the company is having stem from one person... And of the 57 reviews, only a handful don't blame the CEO for the working environment.

I would be hard-pressed to believe that, for a company as relatively small as Gibson, all of these people are just disgruntled.

[Holy War]

Originally Posted by neurotictim

From the Glassdoor.com website:

Apparently submitted by employees, edited by me only for the purpose of spacing.



And quite literally all but a handful of reviews say the same thing, if not necessarily as voluminous.

Seems to me that the problems the company is having stem from one person... And of the 57 reviews, only a handful don't blame the CEO for the working environment.

I would be hard-pressed to believe that, for a company as relatively small as Gibson, all of these people are just disgruntled.

ahhhh, another VA Beacher who can see the light. Thanks for posting that.

[electracoyote]

Whew, really dishin' on CEO Henry Juszkiewicz.

Well, that guy probably is in a bad mood lately. The tree huggers are trying to get him jailed for allegedly using protected wood.

http://consumerist.com/2009/11/gibso...mments-content

[bongomania]

This is not the first time such a report has been published, saying the same thing. Many Gibson employees over the last several years have spoken out about the horrible corporate culture there, and the general fear and confusion about who's making decisions there.

For those of you talking about your visits to the Bozeman factory, and your friend who works there, I can assure you there can be plenty that goes on at levels above the factory floor which floor workers are not going to talk about, if they even care to know. I know this from being a manager at a Whole Foods for a short while--it's a store where everyone acts happy all the time, because they will literally be disciplined if they fail to act happy, and where orders are sent down by upper management that make no sense, but workers are obliged to smile and say everything is peachy, or risk termination.

[BartmanPDX]

They killed Steinberger and Tobias, so this comes as no surprise to me. Lousy executives.

[HailCorduroy]

Originally Posted by McHaven

You have to remember these surveys are all voluntary by the employees. Typically only the most outspoken and disgruntled employees will bother with the time to take the survey.

My company recently participated in one of these types of surveys for our industry and we came in 3rd overall and 1st in companies our size. So it's not just the disgruntled ones that respond.

I've known several people who worked at Gibson in Nashville and most didn't like it. They were all non-musicians though. I imagine being able to purchase a guitar or two a year at cost (that was their employee purchase policy in the past, not sure about now) would be a nice benefit for someone that played and would make the job tolerable. My great aunt worked there for 25 years and at retirement they gave her a custom Les Paul. She tried to give it to my grandfather, but he said it was too expensive for her to just give it to him. She ended up selling it to her pastor. I still give my grandfather crap for not taking it so I would inherit it some day