I really don't understand why SAP Canada is rated so high, unless this is driven by an internal PR campaign. Ratings were very bad around 2016, then it looks like someone figured out they had to improve their Glassdoor position and started asking interns, new employees and managers to review positively.
SAP is an IT company and despite lip service paid to embracing gender diversity and making room for women in management, it remains a profoundly misogynistic company, and what is more, it doesn't realize it is or if it does, is painfully slow to do anything about it. The talk is all up, up, up, SAP is great, oh look at all the great women leaders we have, but if you talk to other women in non-management positions, the dirty secret is that women feel their opinions and contributions are not only unrecognized but devalued and disregarded again and again.
Some women in management are put on a pedestal and revered, and held up as the proof that SAP is a great place to work for women, but this is simply not the case. Unless you’re part of the boys club, come from the outside with impressive credentials or are simply a ruthless corporate climber, you will get nowhere with this company.
This is a hugely political organisation. Don’t expect to get anywhere unless you’re already a manager or very well-connected. There are many stories of employees who do next to nothing but are protected by their connections.
It’s not unusual for upper managers to take the credit for lower-rung employees’ inputs and going to HR is worse than pointless. Their job is to support management. Any claim you bring the them will be ignored until the problem is so huge that they can’t ignore it anymore, or unless they’re looking for an excuse to get rid of the person complained about. Huge egos are rampant. In fact, it’s next to impossible to advance unless you possess one.
The global SAP organization has some wonderful stated values, but in actuality, few people in management actually follow them. The effort to "Build bridges, not silos" is only recognized when management does it, "Tell it like it is" is a wonderful philosophy but in actually, people are afraid to speak out because, as stated, SAP is a highly political organisation and their careers will be compromised if they really do say what they think (esp. if you're a woman). "Stay curious" is great advice but is hard to follow when you're working 50-60 hours a week and there's no money or time for offsite training.
Yes, the company has flexible hours and you can work from home, but in many roles, this is the only possible way to get the job done and raise kids at the same time, because every job in the Sales organisation is extremely demanding and cannot be accomplished without working in the evenings and weekends. (It seems very different for development roles).
Unless you're very technical, have an MBA and/or are willing to relocate to the company's larger business centers (Toronto, Philadelphia, Palo Alto, NYC), there's really very few opportunities for promotion.
Bottom line, if you want a career in sales, willing to set your personal life aside to pursue it, are in extremely good health and are able and willing to belong to a boys club, this is a good place for you. If you want a routine job with decent pay, are willing to put up with insane amounts of stress, and are not terribly ambitious, this is a good place for you. If you're a young worker eager to get some workplace experience, this is a good place for you to start. If you're a mid-level career woman (or man) looking for a good, respectful place to do a your job, and even make your mark, the options for you are extremely limited. This place will leave scars on your family and your psyche for years to come, and may even damage your health.
