"Rats fleeing a sinking ship"
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
My team, the international atmosphere, some of the digital transformation topics.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
All the rest.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Drastic change in the company culture. Get rid of politics and push for transparency and meritocracy. Introduce agile and lean methods to all business lines. Simplify the structure to finally become a modern company.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
Schindler is an extremely slow, conservative, bureacratic and political corporate trying very hard to find its place in a modern world and relying too much on its brand to attract customers. As an employee you will spend most of your time and efforts on political discussions with other departments or with local Schindler entities (KGs). Customers are never a topic.
Schindler Digital Innovation is the result of at least 3 organizational changes over the past 3-4 years. There is a clear trend of people leaving the company, tired of political discussions, lack of vision and perspectives.
Kommunikation
Communication within the team ist mostly good and open to feedback. Communication from top management is simply not there: continuous organizational changes and lack of vision.
Specific to SDI, HR always tries to sell it as a start-up within the company. This is simply NOT TRUE. There is nothing agile and lean about SDI, digital innovation simply has less visibility compared to the core business and it´s not a priority for any top-management or business line.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
At Schindler Digital Innovation (SDI) there is a very mixed and international atmosphere. Relationships with other departments are not always easy and ruled by politics.
Work-Life-Balance
All SDI employees have a 40h/week contract (no "Tarifvertrag") with unpaid overtime and no time recording. To comply with EU norms, HR introduced a time recording system which has no legal value whatsoever and can actually only be used to register days off. If you are looking for the standard benefits of a German company, SDI is not the right place for you.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
I have had very good experiences but also very bad experiences. Overall, the feedback culture is very one-sided (top-down), there is no way for employees to share their feedback on their line manager.
Interessante Aufgaben
In the digital business there are good ideas and initiatives but the company environment (politics, no vision, slow processes, rigid structures) makes it sometimes impossible to realize them. This leads to frustration and demotivation. Again: the focus is not on customers and innovation.
Gleichberechtigung
Top management is slowly moving from a group of white, 50+, preferably Swiss or German men to a slightly more mixed crowd (meaning a couple of white, 50+, preferably Swiss or German women). In the lower ranks, it´s not uncommon that female colleagues are paid much less compared to their male peers.
SDI is strongly international with a clear trend of hiring employees from India, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America who are paid well below the market benchmark.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
There are two parallel trends when it comes to older colleagues. On one hand - as every conservative company - Schindler appreciates loyal employees who have been working in the company for 20-30 years. This often comes with a "I know better than you" attitude or a general reluctance to change or external inputs. On the other hand - after the recent events with supply chain and new product release disasters - a lot of top managers with a long experience in the company have been removed from their position.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Modern offices with a lofty atmosphere. Most of the SDI colleagues will move to a new and fairly isolated building in October. As of now, the majority of SDI employees is still working from home.
Gehalt/Sozialleistungen
Salaries are fair for a Berlin-based company but people have to fight even for the smallest salary increase. If you wish to have an increase, get ready for some uncomfortable discussions with HR and your line manager. Standard yearly salary hikes are in the range of 2%. Good performance barely plays a role.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
There is no career path nor perspectives for employees working in the digital business. It´s simply not a priority for top management and there is no possibility to grow. If you are looking for better opportunities you should rather look for a job in the core business.
Trainings and personal development are discussed once per year during the development review. A lot of promises with little actions and follow-up.