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Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Engaged Employer

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions reviews

3.9

71% would recommend to a friend

(728 total reviews)
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Todd A. Adams

84% approve of CEO

74% positive business outlook

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 728 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Zurn Elkay Water Solutions employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

728 reviews
1.0
Oct 1, 2016

In Decline

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

90 plus years of making sinks, cabinets, fountains and other plumbing products. They are family owned a with deep Chicago history.

Cons

Elkay was once a proud brand. American Standard, Kohler, Moen, Franke and Blanco all market far better sinks. Elkay isn't even available at Lowe's anymore. Home Depot carries few sinks. Even the big plumbing distribution companies have minimized Elkay due to their poor service and high pricing. On the cabinet side, MasterBrands, Masco and American Woodmark offer significant quality, value and quicker delivery solutions. The Board, unfortunately, is weak and not guiding the elderly family chairman. So sad.

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Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Response
9y
We are pleased to be able to give you an update -- Elkay has been experiencing a near record year in many areas of the business. Overall, revenues are up and we’ve signed significant new business with big box retailers; we’ve also successfully launched several exciting new products and have recently acquired a company that positions us for future growth in a new channel. As you know, although we are family owned, we pride ourselves on being professionally managed. Over the past few years, we’ve built an exceptionally balanced leadership team that blends the strengths of seasoned officers with new leaders from the outside. This brings a fresh, contemporary outlook to the business and our work culture that our employees seem to appreciate. One cultural area we continue to expand upon is Work-Life Balance. We encourage our employees to make their home lives and outside interests a priority. Providing employees the space to pursue their passions outside of work (sports, volunteering, or family interests) helps us attract and retain well-rounded talent that comes to work vibrant and refreshed. Sharing their interests back at the office seems to build greater camaraderie and stronger teams. We hope that since leaving Elkay, you’ve moved on to a satisfying new role and wish you every success in your future endeavors.
2.0
Jun 6, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- People at the Pittsburgh plants are 99% easy to get along and work with - Roughly 75% of employees at the Pittsburgh plants have 10+ years with the company, many over 15 years; this creates a giant wealth of information about the products and business - There is a new group of talented, younger employees joining the company that bring energy and new ways of thinking/perspective (side note, some of them are already looking for new jobs) - Extremely relaxed, casual, fun, and laid back work environment the majority of the time. For salaried employees vacation and PTO is not strictly tracked. More controlled for hourly employees - Rexnord provides decent benefits.... Member of the individual HDHP with HSA, less than $20/month premiums - 401k match of 4% on 6% contribution, also provide a quarterly 401k contribution based on company performance

Cons

- High turnover within management - Management team that led a business losing over $4MM a year for 4+ years in route to closing is now leading the Pittsburgh plants - Management style creates silos between departments, managers talk down about other depts/managers to their own employees - because of silo departments no one knows what other groups are doing, creating or following a standard process becomes extremely difficult - Morale is extremely low at both Pittsburgh plants, hourly employees through management don't believe their jobs will be around in 1-3 years - company is roughly 10-15 years behind current technology; many processes are still manual i.e. a typewriter is used for correcting errors on printed sales orders - SAP is used to maybe 10% of its capacity, partially in fault of company having a basic version - gap between heavily tenured and newer employees makes a difficult environment to adapt processes to different ways of thinking - new management doesn't have a solid grip on operations, doesn't appear to be working to unite the departments or the team. no clear goal has been relayed - schedule is heavily weighted towards the ends of fiscal months, more often than not production will work the second to last and last Saturday of every month to make shipments - Outside sales group has been consistently shrinking over the past year with no signs of expanding; sales volume is also at an extreme low making it hard for production to make shipments and budget numbers - performance reviews were very unsatisfactory, being between two bosses on and off for a year proved extremely challenging ** I was asked to clean the bathrooms because they smelled. I refused.

1.0
Oct 9, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

What people that are left from pre-acquistion are dedicated, highly motivated & top talent. Work/life balance WAS phenomenal; however that recently changed, as did benefits. Stock options are offered but do not vest for 2 years. Highly diverse company; equal opportunities for women, POC, LGBTQ+. Great internship /Co-op program (unsure if this still applies after Zurn acquisition)

Cons

Zero trust for upper management; Any promises to retain a "culture they found similar to their own" has proven false as any direction, promises (freedom 2 flex/WFH, benefits, projects, tuition reimbursement, promotions, etc) have been completely up-ended or out-right reversed. Employees have been leaving in droves while emails about 'associates being the strongest assets & attracting/retaining the top talent is a top priority' fill inboxes, folllowed by constant United Way 'donation' requests, & a Return To Work order, despite a hybrid policy already established & the organization is not located in one single location (it is very unlikely there will be any 'water cooler collaboration' when the production plants, distribution warehouses & suppliers are spread across the US, Mexico, Canada, China, India & the rest of the world. Also, as there are no projects to currently pursue, being forced to drive an hour into work, waste time& gas, scramble to find childcare, only to sit in a loud, open concept office & do the EXACT work being done at home - only while saving time, $ & being less stressed & fatigued. There was always management bloat at Elkay, & expectations were the acquisition would remove much of the bloat, even if it was due to simple redundancy. However WFH has exposed that many managers simply weren't very useful and forcing employees back into an office is a backwards way of addressing the issue, & solving the wrong problem. ...something else that seems to occur often as well. Also, when promotions were occurring, they carried the appearance of being based less on capabilities/performance and more on whom one knew or associated with. Knowledge & hardwork would only get a person so far if they did not have the proper je ne sais quoi. Now that Zurn has started discontinuing product lines & shutting down plants, with all the employees being in the office (and I'm sure there will be NO resistance to that...that was sarcasm, by the way) it should be much easier to turn in laptops as they "restructure' & walk out large portions of, or entire departments. Most are convinced Elkay (which, despite it's many minor flaws, was a pretty fantastic place to work before this acquisition) is simply being picked for choice cuts before being gutted to the highest bidder. All the above is constant stress & has taken a toll on the ability for the average employee's mental health, but there isn't a single action by Zurn that shows they intend to make positive changes in employees' interests. Unless you're a C-level executive, do not work here..

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