Pros
As a hard working Zep employee I am tired of reading reviews from a small group of disgruntled former employees who are deliberately trying to sabotage our company during the Great Resignation. Sure, Zep has outdated monitors. Boohoo. We have been working remote for 2 years and you know what? My monitor is just fine thank you. It is true that the company is not buying new equipment but that is because we are moving to a new location!.
If you care so much about a monitor you should have raised your hand just like I did, I did get a new monitor. Three to be exact.
Also, yes this is a product and sales driven company. I don't think there are many companies that aren't. Even so, there has been a good partnership between finance, manufacturing, sales and marketing. I work closely with the retail group and the sales team is awesome. Sure they complain about things and we disagree but it's just like any other company. If you always agree that would be a bigger problem. To those former employees, sorry your feelings got hurt and good luck finding a company where everyone agrees with you. SMH.
As it is with most companies, there are some old school sales guys who can be a pain and offensive at times and just like you have to do in any other company you have to put them in their place too.. But I could count these guys with two fingers and they are on their way out to retirement. To insinuate that this is the culture is just completely false. Most people are friendly and collaborative and get along fine. And my boss has always had my back.
The leadership has been changing, for the better!. During COVID we had a CEO who was hard core and he helped us grow the company. However, after COVID that hard core attitude got old. Many people complained about it, and now the company has put in place a woman CEO who seems awesome and brings a more friendly tone.
The other leadership change included bringing in the first female CFO, who also seems cool.
These reviews talk about leadership changing as if the company were in turmoil. The leadership is changing because they heard us!
Check out many public companies in Atlanta and tell me how long their CEO has been in place.
The truth is that this is an 85 year old company founded by people who wanted to make a difference, and most of us still do. We make great products and we work hard at it.
Zep is not perfect. But, we have great people who care and have fun working here. Most of us have a great time together and as we come back to the office. It's great to see our friends back and welcome new friends who have recently joined the company.
The proof is that the company has been growing and even after the COVID rush of hand sanitizer, the company is still doing much better than it did before the pandemic.
Some roles are remote and some are in office. Most teams are remote 2 or 3 times a week which is great even though many companies are returning to the office full time now. I've never heard of anyone being forced to come in like some of the reviews say. That would be ridiculous. The reason why not all teams are in office at the same time is not because of some made-up lack of coordination. it's simply to better manage space since we reduced the office space!
The other gripe is no career plan. Seriously? I know people who have been promoted from finance analyst to VP, and across many other departments that happens as well. Maybe you got stuck gossiping so much in your little area that you failed to see that in your time here.
To sum it up, Zep is just not for everyone. If you expect to come in to a shiny new spa with roses and romantic music, good luck finding that place. But, Zep is a good little company in Atlanta who sells almost a billion dollars, keeps growing, and is run by a few good people who still care.
Cons
Again, Zep is not perfect. Because we have so many departments, communication is always a challenge. And, because of COVID not everyone is in the office so it makes it difficult to work with some of the teams.
Our supply team is being hit hard by the supply chain issues. There are some good people in that department. The new sourcing team which is amazing and super collaborative.
One area that needs improvement is R&D. We used to have a thriving R&D department and overtime that department has shrunk. We need to bring back some good chemists to replace those who are retiring. Zep has great formulas but we need to keep innovating!
Our HR department does need to do a better job with onboarding new employees. We didnt have so many incoming people and as we grow we do need better training and development programs. Don't get me wrong. You learn here at Zep and I've been trained well by many people who take their time to help and just by me learning myself. And you know what? what we do isn't rocket science. People who get it stay and learn A TON here.
The last and biggest Con is honestly the entitled few that we hired during COVID who think everything is owed to them and who now think they can sabotage our company. Go have fun in your new jobs and stop trying to ruin it for everyone else. Good luck with your new jobs and don't come crawling back here like half the people who leave try to do. We will be just fine without you in our new cool digs with... yes our new monitors and chairs.
