A learning experience however extremely unsettling
Was a mid-level manager and the following is my personal experience. The following account is not exaggerated whatsoever:
CONS:
1.*BIG ONE... and major decision-maker for me to leave* My second year in this position I was ordered to change the year-end performance rating for a manager (minority) who reported directly to me, because the national averages showed that too many minorities were ranking in the lower percentages. (My manager actually told me this!) Being a woman myself, I felt insulted. I would like to think that my rating was 'earned' Because of my talent and not 'given' because of my gender or race. This was wrong on so many levels therefore my personal trust and morale was gone. Despite my pushback due to problems I had noted in performance, the rating was changed. Later, this particular manager exited due to issues I had noted.
2.Lack of leadership or training - you are on your own. From personal experience, the managers were very proficient in managing their own careers, but not so much at coaching teams.
You must build a network of 'go-to' people. I could rarely go to my manager with issues. Questions were answered with questions, ending in a suggestion to reach out to someone else. Unfortunately, this company is hiring based on college credentials (degrees on your resume), but no work experience with practical application or knowledge; managers with no history actually working in the field or business experience.
3.Overall, the company is very
ProsThere are some really Great people with excellent Consumer Goods/Operations knowledge
ConsThe company has lost sight of taking care of it's most important asset - it's people!
I came into Coca-Cola thinking I would be making some what decent money. Turns out they start you off at $10.59 an hour. For the type of work you are doing it is totally not worth it. You are throwing cases as an order builder all day. After 90 days you get bumped to $11.77 an hour. However I was unaware the supervisor didn't raise my pay until after about 6 months instead of 3. I was compensated but should I really have to be on my supervisor to give me my 90 day raise? I've learned working here you can do anything you want. You are supposed to hit an efficiency of 95% daily using voicepick, build approximately 4.5 pallets per hour, and have a very small amount of mis-picks. Majority of employees do not do any of this and are not disciplined at all. My crew is approximately 14-15 people and we average 4-5 call outs a night. Once again no discipline is done. Every day we are given a specific amount of pallets we are supposed to build. People, myself included, have walked out on the count and no discipline was done. Also there are people who sit on the clock and steal time and it is well-known throughout the warehouse but once again. No discipline. Overall, it's a free for all and the warehouse employees dictate what happens. I have become so frustrated with this place that I have started to become the bad employee I despise. It used to be tolerable because you could work as much OT as you wanted. Even then you look at your paycheck and say wow I worked all these hours and thi
ProsCOME AND GO AS YOU PLEASE! CALL OUT WHENEVER YOU WANT! THEY WON'T FIRE YOU!
ConsEverything Else
2.0
Quality Assurance Technician | Lenexa, KS | Mar 11, 2016
Challenging work atmosphere, but can foster leadership skills
While I'm thankful for my time with CCR and the goals it has allowed me to accomplish, I am disconcerted with how they manage their employees and develop talent.
I will say this, they hire a number of perfectly capable employees and, in the right combinations, these groups can develop interpersonal bonds that enhance productivity and efficiency in the work place. The problem is that this is entirely coincidental and random.
I've thankfully had the good fortune to develop great working relationships with my coworkers and do my best to cultivate an energized atmosphere of respect and productivity but this is through my own initiative and not anything I have been trained upon or asked to do. I've done this because, the way the shifts are divided, I'm the most senior department employee on my shift and I want to help my coworkers grow and develop their skills. I wish they broached team-building, job skill training, and career skill growth more directly and actually guided employees towards their professional goals as this is simply my efforts to make our work environment more dynamic and welcoming.
The position has taught me to operate independently and helped me to develop leadership skills to offer guidance and direction to my coworkers. Due to this independence, I often am able to employ problem-solving skills to troubleshoot a number of problems to find creative solutions which is, incidentally, my favorite aspect of the job.
The downside though, is that t
ProsEmployer discounts, provides free work shirts/pants, offers credit for work-compliant shoes, company with positive public image
ConsLimited career advancement, lack of skill development, opaque management dialogue
Great company to work for depending on your goals and which function you are in
It's not a tech company, so don't expect to be at the cutting edge of technology. I say that, but I'm talking about one specific function of the company. There are other functions such as IT which seem to be doing more interesting stuff for software developers or computer scientists. I feel like my team should have just been purely doing data analysis/science work, but for some reason there was a separate sub-team which managed one of the totally unrelated software systems that Coca-Cola uses.
For the most part, the people on the team were absolutely amazing to work with. Such a diverse mix of cultures and personalities. And just some really great, genuine and generally nice people that I have made lifelong friendships with. There are of course some in the company that are hanging in there to reach pension age, and that kind of slows progress down a little bit because of a lack of interest and willingness to incorporate modern technologies. These people just tend to stick with what they know and kind of force others along in using those outdated technologies. There was also one or two people who were clearly milking their way to a salary and by that I mean they were pretending to be the brainiac that, if removed, would cause the team's collapse, but in reality, they did not much at all and caused all sorts of other other conflicts due to their personality issues. This brought the team morale down immensely, but that problem was finally sorted by management and everything is
OVERWORKED AND underpaid via overtime NO TIME AND a half
worked for Coke for 2 years at three different facilities and every warehousewas the same long long work hours you do not get off until the work is finished coke does not care if that's 8 am the next morning they dont care if that's 18 hours you have to work 19 hours that you have to work you do not get to leave until the work is finished no time and half overtime since you get payed by case you can not slow down you cannot leave until the Work is done .. I've seen people get written up and terminated due to them having to go home to make sure their family is OK family emergencies and They still got written up because Coke said thats not a valid reason for leaving the work day... doctors notes are not an excuse you will get written up and terminated if you are sick but you do not have any sick time to compensate so if you're in the hospital for a day that does not matter to them they will fire you for not coming to work unless you're sick 3 days in a rowbut then even that you have to call HR and basically beg for them too except your doctor's note.. coke needs to do a better job at showing appreciation to their employees never getting preciation shown while I was there older employees told me that Coke
used to be appreciative company but then they quit doing it due to budget cost . give me a break They just didn't want to do it anymore. bottom line save yourself a lot of wear and tear on your body And a lot of frustration and a lot of questions of why Coca Cola the biggest
ProsCoworkers and certain supervisors
ConsEverything accept a few supervisors and coworkers
Regardless of what they say, or "how much better it's getting" you will work 60+ hour avg. week. after return filing can be as little as 45 hour week (minimum expectation). Manager is preoccupied with her own tasks, so planning is minimal. Sr. Manager pretty much the same. They try to make up for professional "absence/aloofness" with potlucks, cakes, cookies, candy, etc., but reality is more like slave labor camp. Work is somewhat interesting (many pieces to the return filing process), but seems overkill when considering the "big picture." managers step over dollars to pick up pennies and are in denial about why people leave the tax team ("they're new, they want to be accountants, don't like tax, don't want to do the work," etc.). Real problem is the process to prepare the tax returns is irreparably broken and managers don't have time to consider sweeping new options (they will consider minimal process improvements, but are very adverse to change). Salaried positions: must wait 18 months to post out for another position (if available). The manager will be mad at you for abandoning the "team" when you do. Only consider this dept if you are desperate for a job, can handle no work life balance, long hours, and manager's expectation that you will work as they do (from home, weekends, evenings, early mornings) to get every manual task done on time, regardless of the circumstances. Other tax accountants are nice, but will always be a revolving door and managers will blame those
Prosfree soda (fountains). ping-pong tables, close to freeway
Consno work-life balance. unrealistic expectations, broken process
Each day I have a set route that will differ from day to day but will be the same stops each week. I would check on my hand held computer to see current and upcoming ads for each stop. I plan out a course to follow based on location and efficiency. At each stop (or outlet) I will check to see if we as a company have certain priorities that we try to meet for each quarter. I will walk the outlet to: identify key opportunities for Coca-Cola and our customers to gain business, ensure all of our product is to our "Look of Success," and to order missing product. Then I will inventory our back stock and us that long with the ad information to determine an accurate order for the outlet.
Coca-cola is a team composed of many people and many positions. I have learned that we could not be as successful as we are without everyone evolved. It takes all employees' involvement to make things run smoothly. My management is very involved and always tries to put us all in the best possible position for us to succeed. If they need to dive in and merchandise product, sell in product, or what ever else they are more than willing to do so. My co-workers are also team players. Many of us call each other for advice or suggestions on different obstacles. Many times we help out each other by cover some stops for each other should one be falling behind. All of us from management to entry level jobs generally respect and care for one another and want to see every one do well
I have also learned
Prosgood pay/ benefits, globally recognized, independent position, high recognition
Conshighly stressful at times, can work long hours
I am not going to list pros and cons, but rather I will tell you under what circumstances YOU SHOULD accept this job and under what circumstances YOU SHOULD NOT accept this job.
You SHOULD ACCEPT this job IF: You are comfortable working 12-14 hour days, enjoy demanding physical labor, etc. This job provides steady income and good benefits (3 weeks paid vacation/401k/affordable health insurance) In addition, if you are not comfortable with someone looking over your shoulder and micromanaging you then this job could be a good fit for you. I honestly feel that if you are out of shape this job could positively alter your life (with good nutrition)...you are constantly moving and there is never a shortage of work. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from being the last man between the company's product and the end user, you are at the bottom of the totem pole, but simultaneously one of the most important pieces of this company.
*Disclaimer: I recently left my job as a merchandiser
You SHOULD NOT ACCEPT IF: Advancement is one of your key motivators...merchandisers are capable of advancement in this company, but from the numerous account managers i spoke to it became clear to me that advancement often took many years. Another thing you should know is that the primary people you will be dealing with are the employees/managers of various retail stores (mainly walmart) and many of these people can be unpleasant at times. Also, there are many elements that are out of yo
Prosbenefits, no micromanagement, overtime pay, flexible schedule
From the outside this company seems like a great opportunity, they make it seem as though its an hourly job, but its not, at least its not hourly Albany,NY. This job is a commission based job, not so bad, but its not full commisson, so which means you get paid for each case around $.35 and for bibs it is around $.50 pre bib. The things is commission is only given for your smaller stops, but when it come to bulk stops like Hannafrods, Price Choppers, and Shop rites, you receive a drop rate of $17, this means that in steaed of you getting full commission they rip you off. lets say you you have a bulk stop of 400 cases, each case in commission is $.35, instead of you getting the $140 owed to you, you get the drop rate for the low price of, you guessed it $17. The best part is the pack outs, basicly your'er not just unloading the truck and delivering the product, you also have to put each product on the shelf. In most pack outs your putting away 50 to 250 cases of soda by your self no help, your filling the coolers also. With time and hours spent on packing out a 50 case pack out only gives you in commission $17.50. A pack can take 45 min to an hour and a half, and you still have 19 stops of pack outs to go. Unless you are super man nine times out of ten you'er working 12-14 hrs a day, with commission breaks down to around $14 an hour to driv a tractor trailer. Now when you first walk through the doors they will tell you you get $20 an hour and make it seem like it hourly plus c
Where do I begin?? The Account managers are the salesman of the company and are the face of the company. Meanwhile the drivers and merchandisers are union employees and are trained to not listen to the account managers and constantly use their "union card" so they can do less work. For instance if u place an order the driver would take his sweet time delivering it and then u have to hope that the merchandiser shows up to pack it out. And if they don't, it's your fault and guess what? Cause of the union you cannot touch the product. So nobody wins and the customer suffers. The DSM uses his team to make himself look good and never provides you with bonus updates so you can actually make some money. A daily conference call that wastes about 20-30 min of your morning which is sent to you in an email anyway. Then a weekly Tuesday meeting repeating everything for a 3rd or 4th time. Horrible training on handheld computers which they just expect you to know and if you don't learn on your own management won't help, they will just dump it on a fellow employee. If a fellow employee is on vacation you're told to run his route as well. The DSM is responsible for that but he will put it on you. The DSM spends the whole day in the branch checking his email and calling you 5-10 times a day about issues that you cannot resolve without his help. Also if a merchandiser does not do his job you're asked to become a private investigator and take pictures of the merchandisers and drivers poor work
ProsFlexible daytime hours, some phone calls on Saturday.
ConsAsked to work more the an 8 hour day daily, Too many emails instead of communicating by phone or face to face.
Great team, excellent management team. Work life balance very 'imbalanced'
A typical day (should have been 8:00-5:00, but was more 7:00-7:00)
Which saw you;
7am opening your emails (usually at least 15 - 20 first thing in the am)
8am quick conference call
8:15 - 9:30am route planning and other daily organization
9:30 or 10:00 on the road completing sales calls. This included all details listed in resume i.e.: selling in priorities, monthly deals, merchandising, completing orders, cleaning coolers and displays if necessary to enhance sale of product, re merchandising, and pricing. Public liaison with your customer and putting out fires.
Always on call during the day, as well ensuring Customer Support Calls are being handled through out the regular duties.
4:00 sometimes later back to computer for follow ups and signing out of calls on BOSS System. Usually until 7:00 pm. Sometimes earlier sometimes even later
What I learned?
Multi Tasking skills, organizational skills and learning how to pace ones self through the day ensuring to eat and not become overwhelmed, especially during trade tour times.
Management
I had 2 amazing District Sales Managers during my time with Coca-Cola. Both skilled in different ways, but extremely good at their roles and ensuring their teams were taken care of accurately and supported as best that they could given disorganized circumstances.
We went through 2 Area Sales Managers in my time. One was great the latter was lacking in personal skills and communication skills. It made the DSM position
ProsExcellent team, great District Sales Manager, good benefits, good holiday structure, excellent flexibility
Conswork life balance, territories too large to support customers accurately, perks taken away with new structuring
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
RESPONSIBLE FOR OVERSEEING ALL ASPECTS OF PRODUCT RECEIVING, STORING AND DISPATCH.
MANAGE INVENTORY LEVEL: SHRINCAGES, BREAKAGES AND SHORTAGES
INPUTTING OF SAP TRANSACTIONS RELATING TO AVAILABILITY OF STOCK AND WRITE OFFS
MANAGE GENERAL STOREKEEPING ACTIVITIES
MANAGE WAREHOUSE KPI’S AND MONITOR PERFOMANCE
LEAD AND FACILITATE SHIFT TEAM WITH SOUND LEADERSHIP APPLICATIONS AND PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT
INTERACT WITH DISTRIBUTION AND PLANNING TO ENSURE INTERGRATED SERVICE
ADMINISTER STRICT STOCK CONTROL AND STOCK ROTATION PRACTICES AS PER COMPANY POLICY (TPM)
COACH, MOTIVATE, GUIDE AND COUNSEL EMPLOYEES IN THE WAREHOUSE
01 / 10 / 2008 TO 30 / 09 / 2012 COCA-COLA FORTUNE (PTY) LTD POLOKWANE PLANT
POSITION HELD: INVENTORY CONTROLLER
ACTING POSITION: WAREHOUSE SHIFT SUPERVISOR & ASSIST IN HAULER PLANNING:
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
MANAGE ELECTRONIC (SAP SYSTEM) AND MANUAL FILING SYSTEMS
ADMINISTER STRICT STOCK CONTROL AND STOCK ROTATION PRACTICES AS PER COMPANY POLICY
MANAGE INVENTORY LEVELS AND SHRINCAGES, MAINTAIN AND CONTROL BREAKAGES AND SHORTAGES
DAILY INSPECTION OF QUALITY STOCKS AND MANAGING CUSTOMER RETURNS AND TRADE REPLACEMENT
RECEIVE / DISPATCH AND STORAGE OF HIGH VOLUME OF RAW MATERIALS AND FINISHED GOODS
DAILY AND MONTHLY STOCK COUNTS AND MANAGE YEAR END PROCESS USING HHT SCANNERS / MANUAL
INPUTTING OF SAP TRANSACTIONS RELATING TO AVAILABILITY OF STOCK AND WRITE OFFS
LEAD AND FACILITATE SHIFT TEAM WITH SOUND LEADERSHIP
I interviewed twice with this company in the space of one year - once for a production position in Richmond, BC, and another (for which I was hired) as a seasonal order picker at the distribution center in Montreal, QC. The hiring was done via a phone interview with the head office in Toronto, ON, and an in-person meeting with one of the warehouse supervisors. I had done the same process for the job in Richmond, only without being retained. What stood out at that particular engagement was the way the hiring manager referred to his habit of "booting out" temporary workers that, for one reason or another, didn't meet his requirements (namely obtaining a "boiler ticket" - the reason for which was never clearly elaborated upon); and that they met with many candidates for my positions, and so I shouldn't get my hopes up. He also made me wait for 20 minutes past the appointment time in the lobby. Generally very unprofessional and corporate in diction/demeanor.
Basically, there's no realistic way to be hired permanently by this company if you're taken on as a temp (or seasonal) worker. I inquired and was told the waiting list for a permanent position goes back to 2006. Apparently it now takes one of the "old-timers" (read: guys who've been driving forklifts for 37+ years because they're not competent to do anything else) retiring before a position's available. At that point, it's given for night shift (the one no one generally wants), then evening, then day (both of the latter ha
Proshonesty: They tell you that your hours get cut off in the fall
Project: Develop new, long-term Juice Beverage Category Vision and Destination build on the solid Business Case for 2007-2015
Responsibilities:
Develop Beverages Long Range Business Plan based on 3 strategic pillars: acquisition, local brand development, international brand launch
Define a portfolio vision and high level strategy for the brands, including consumer focus, brand architecture and communication strategy.
Lead development and delivery of annual brand plan, including key insight identification, strategy definition, innovation and development of key initiatives
Have total P&L responsibility for the juice based beverage brands, delivering business plan commitments and ensuring their long–term health
Personal achievements:
Developed solid Category Long Range Business Plan 2007-2015 with competitive and highly consumer relevant business and brand re-stage in Poland. Successfully managed to buy TCCC and CCH Top Management into the plan and got their long-term commitment for high operational and marketing investments. Fully led annual business planning and implementation process, demonstrated clear leadership in development and successful implementation of brand and trade marketing programs (including massive MIT with 1000 participants distribution building program) that step changed TCCC juice brand market position in Poland. Juice Plan was evaluated as Best in Class in the Company and after approval and implementation became Best Practice for other markets in the world.
Demonstrated affective leverage of juice strategies from local development to Global and European
It was a wonderful experince when I first started working. I had a hard-nosed trainer who expected a lot from me on the first day of training but I pushed through. I worked myself to the point where I was getting huge back strains and leg strains from the large work load on a daily basis. I had an awful schedule of 4 on 1 off,1 on 1 off with no room to make it balanced or offer consecutive days off. I went to great lengths to push for more sale space on the floor for most accounts in the hopes of getting some form of acknowledgement. But it didn't matter to Coke as it is still and will always be a clubhouse style of advancement. If you play golf, talk the talk, make informative posts with business jargon, then you've got it made. Let me explain a bit. We'd get appreciation but as a blanket statement during peak times of the year. No different than a platonic greeting you'd express to your neighbors on a regular basis. I have worked at a gas station and felt more appreciated there then I have felt here for this company. Your schedule will flip at the drop of a hat often overnight or 30 minutes before you are about to head out the door. Your breaks are driving in terrible traffic as merchandisers can't risk being late to an account because the order has arrived and is expected to go out immediately. Cuttin corners is frowned upon but ultimately is necessary in order to complete your day on time. Customers would complain that flavours would spontaneously not be in an account any
ProsPhysically stimulating, Above minimum wage (just barely), Free uniform, Work phone, Decent orientation for new merchandisers, Making business connections with store managers.
ConsPoor management, Bad schedules, Terrible communication, No incentives for increasing sales space, No breaks or lunches allowed for merchandisers, Being pestered by sales reps.
Questions And Answers about Coca-Cola Refreshments
If you were in charge, what would you do to make The Coca-Cola Company a better place to work?
Asked Oct 13, 2018
Put two drivers on each truck
Answered Mar 20, 2021
Everywhere it's a better place to work
Answered Jan 14, 2021
What tips or advice would you give to someone interviewing at The Coca-Cola Company?
Asked Jul 26, 2016
Run far far way!!!
Answered Mar 8, 2020
Trust yourself and also your company
Answered Feb 10, 2020
What is the interview process like at The Coca-Cola Company?
Asked Jul 26, 2016
Had an interview at the hollywood location . Five star questions and a role play . Interview was fine . I feel after an interview it's only common courtesy to email the potential employee to thank them for their time whether or not they hired you . Guess the management needs a course in the interview process and follow up with common decency .
Answered Feb 10, 2020
Join the people
Answered Jul 18, 2019
Do we get weekends off ?
Asked Jun 1, 2016
It depends on how much of work was done
Answered Mar 27, 2020
Only Saturdays
Answered Jan 11, 2020
Why did you leave your job at Coca-Cola Refreshments?
Asked Mar 15, 2017
Planner - Auburndale, FL - Pay raises did not match cost of living increase. Every year I was there, was loosing money staying. Left after ten years. Loved my job, to much brown nose to move up.
