McMaster-Carr reviews

It's been a couple years since I've worked at this company but last night I had a nightmare that I was a supervisor here again so I felt that it was time to crank this out. Recent reviews suggest the culture has not changed so this all is probably still valid. Your experience within the management development program within any of the Operations areas is very dependent on the culture created by your managers/directors, and the specific department you work in. Rotation of these managers can change your work life overnight. Being rotated into a new department (to allow you to grow and to support the needs of the business) can be hit or miss. The hits are great, but the misses can result in strong employees suddenly being "job at risk" when they were strong in previous roles or with previous managers. The discrepancy can be very demoralizing, especially when you see other members of management get promoted and rewarded in less-intense roles. Your happiness here can be very luck of the draw. You HAVE to be really good at self-promotion and advocating for your accomplishments. It’s more important than having good accomplishments. I've had managers admit that they don't do any work except to prepare for the week when corporate comes to the branch. I've heard recently promoted managers joke that they don't do anything but suck up to the right people. I've had a manager comment that she's "surprised" that my fellow supervisor and I in one department aren't fighting to outcompete and backstab each other to get ahead…encouraging the deterioration of a formerly positive partnership between us. Having bounced from being favored by upper management, to disfavored, to favored again...the process can be exhausting. That said, it does appear that if you survive long enough to get to a senior manager/director position, your life is much better. Get in, get your bag and your degree, and get out.

Upper management has high turnover (on Purpose) for some reason.