John Deere reviews

Deere is not a management development academy, so don't expect that type of culture or experience. Seriously stagnant at the high middle management layers - with resulting cronyism for the best promotion opportunities - that self-protects/perpetuates. Don't expect to fly high or get a big opportunity for high impact assignments or access to Senior managment unless you work for the right people at the right time or get hired through the Strategic Management Program. SMP is basically an insider club of MBAs from Tuck, Kellogg, etc. that are essentially preselected for the high visibility and impact positions before they even start with the company. SMP is sweet for those involved and bitter for those not. Deere has done well over a long period of time, so there there is cultural complacency that inhibits efforts to build a great organization. Management talks actively about building a great business, but the culture won't permit it. Great people in general are not being recruited or retained. There is little incentive to stay more than 5 years with the company unless your career ambition is to build combines, balers, tractors, etc. or you settle down in the community where you are working and decide to stay forever. There are few if any employers that compete for talent in the locations where Deere thrives, so external talent competition is not a factor.

Very few downsides. I am satisfied with my job at John Deere. One thing I wish was different is that it seems that employees are sometimes treated as expendable resources rather than human beings (especially by upper management).