Fender Musical Instruments reviews about "management"

Company is transitioning from management that had passion for the brand and its legacy in an intimate industry, to capital investment firms capitalizing on financial returns as quickly as possible. There is little to no vision expressed to the work force from senior management, which leaves most employees "out of the loop" and with little to no connection to deliver their best efforts for the company. So many great,talented people are looking for a way out.

Toxic management stifles creativity and innovation. Fender bought my division - Kaman Music Corp.- in 2009 and left it pretty much alone for four years. They then proceeded to plant all their Guitar Center cronies in management positions and thus began the meddling with a solid foundation that led to the crash and burn in 2013-14. They have subsequently sold the pieces ( for less than half of what they paid for it).

Extreme negative cultural decline when Larry joined 2010. Great long term talent fleeing! Great long term talent laid-off cuz they make too much money. Bad morale.. Larry and the Wreckage he Left. And his guys are still there! CBS is back!

Layoffs five years in a row. Management changes direction seemingly every time the wind blows. Upper management keeps promoting itself, while employee wages fall farther and farther behind (1% raises, anyone?). Generous bonuses for management; nothing for the people actually accomplishing all of the day-to-day tasks. Employees can't count on even modest 401(k) matching. Not ALL of the good people have left. . . yet.

Upper management played favorites and played politics. Having a new executive come in and favor newer employees over older employees who were under a manger that they do not prefer is terrible for morale.

Upper management is a total "look at me" mentality. They only time they manage is to fire people to make them look strong. Every decision is made by a group of people that used to have that job. Everyone looks over their shoulder for the axe. Previous CEO and President, while a little misguided, appreciated the people and the hard work involved in every area of the company. The next guy only appreciated fear; A good employee is a scared employee. I worked with some of the best people I've ever known, and almost to a person, no one was ever told "good job" by anyone in an office. At least a few of the "how did he get that job?" VPs are gone now...

Management has deemed Los Angeles is the place to be, so they're making the marketing department move. Apparently, marketing has to move to be closer to the artists. Coincidentally, most of the new executive team lives in LA. This has caused major rifts throughout Fender, and we are going to lose a lot of great people and experience. This is really a calculated move to reduce headcount since management knows most people won't move. Needless to say, marketing is a mess and the vI've extends to the rest of the company. Other departments are hit or miss. The executive team has set an extremely lofty goal for the next 3 years financially which doesn't seem reasonable, especially with taking on a new LA office and new LA salaries. Fender had banked on the fact that you're working for a cool company and that people are passionate about the brand. To put it bluntly, compensation sucks. No bonus structure for below director level, and basee salaries are below par. I recently receiced a job offer for 30% more, so I'll be moving on from the company. Fender also has a lot of brand equity, but doesn't seem to use it appropriately. There is an air around the office that Fender is too good to do more charity and support more events, concerts and self promotion.

Old management was inept and some are still in charge, new management came from big name companies like Nike, etc. but they don't have a clue about the musical instrument industry or how to run Fender.