Midwestern niceness + many managers who have only worked at HNI their entire career = lack of any sense of urgency or willingness to break the mold and try something beyond what's always been done. If you are a person who tries to push the envelope or bring in new ideas, you will find yourself beating your head against a brick wall, and that's why any outside talent (i.e., people who weren't hired right out of college and indoctrinated in the HNI way from the start of their careers) tend not to stick around and the company continues in its echo chamber death spiral. Management opts for acquisition over innovation as a growth strategy, which will only get them so far. DEI goals include a certain percentage of women in leadership, yet their "parental leave" policy is abysmal (2 weeks paid, just implemented in 2023, and rest requires use of short-term disability). They claim their lack of parental leave is because that's the "standard" for the market they're in, which supports my earlier point that they are not interested in pushing the envelope or being a leader, but rather doing the bare minimum to get by. Teams are constantly re-shuffled, often without any member input or consideration for individuals' preferences or career interests. The constant shifting in ownership at every level creates inefficiencies and errors that waste (at a minimum) time, and in many cases real money. When I tell friends in other companies/industries how many managers I've had in my relatively short time with the organization, they are shocked.
