Honda of America Mfg. Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Honda of America Mfg. as an intern for less than a year

Pros – great workplace atmosphere, everyone is friendly
great engineering environment for an engineering intern
good benefits and programs for co-ops

Cons – pay is lower than normal
early starting hours

Current Employee – been working at Honda of America Mfg. full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Stable job
Decent benefits
Good vacation policy

Cons – Rampant confusion and mismanagement at department levels
Inconsistent application of policies, many decisions bases on hidden favoritism
No rules, only "guidelines"
Everything subject to business needs clause
The motto seems to be "Ignorance is bliss and the truth is not welcome"
People live in fear of failure more than anticipation of success

Advice to Senior Management – Too much time spent with form instead of function, stop worrying about having all your charts and graphs looking pretty and start paying attention to the core business of making cars.

Stop punishing the innovators

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Honda of America Mfg. full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – When I started in 1997 the Japanese ran the company, the place ran like a well-oiled machine. It was always right man, right job. Benefits and pay were good.

Cons – Americans took over, now no one knows what they're doing, you get the job if you kiss booty, no loyalty to me as an exemplary employee. I had 15 years perfect attendance, was moved to different departments because I would encourage and "fix" the department, and constantly told what a good employee I was... until I tore my shoulder on-line. They threw me away like trash.

Advice to Senior Management – Quit paying the attorneys and Private Investigators to try and "catch" me doing something wrong... and use that money to fix my shoulder so I can get well and get back to work!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Honda of America Mfg. as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Good people, set responsibilities, major projects for intern.

Cons – Day to day activities were VERY repetitive. Open cubicle area made it feel like I had no privacy.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Honda of America Mfg. full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – You have real responsibilities. Projects are meaningful and you get to see them through from start to finish, which is very rewarding. There are constant challenges with new vehicle designs, manufacturing problems, factory renovations, etc. It's a fast paced workplace that rarely has you feeling bored.

Cons – Not all areas are as exciting as others. Some jobs can be very monotonous and repetitive since this is a mass production factory. However, the company is big, so there are usually opportunities to try out something else that might interest you.

Advice to Senior Management – Allow employees to rotate through various areas within the company so they can understand and appreciate the complexity and interdependence of all of our functions. It will open their eyes and help them perform better within their own roles.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Honda of America Mfg. full-time for more than a year

Pros – Can't remember any positives about the environment or the job experience

Cons – Lack of communicartion
Everyone is out for themselves nd they dont hesitate to stab you in the back
Management is disrespecfull to employees
Not organized
Everything is a priority
People are scared to speak out

Advice to Senior Management – Look at the current leadership ans assess the issues and the turnover rates because they tell a story. Listen to the employees and give them some freedom to make decisions.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Honda of America Mfg. as a contractor for more than 3 years

Pros – - No pressure work environment
- Flexible work hours
- Good starter job
- Honda name looks good on resume
- Most people you work with are friendly

Cons – - No challenge
- No coffee/eating at desk
- White uniform
- Slow decision making process
- No opportunity to advance

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Honda of America Mfg. full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Great place to get experience.
An industry that drives constant innovation in its products.
Good location, Columbus is a hidden gem in the midwest.
Good medical benefits.

Cons – No flexibility in the manufacturing departments.

Too many "benefits" left to individual department discretion - no consistency across the company.

Salary is generally 20% less than similar jobs at other OEM's.

No ability to easily move across the company - department managers can, and often do, block associates from changing jobs.

Poor communication of goals and objectives

Company has shifted from a culture of building consensus among stake holders to being managed from a top-down direction.

No accountability for poor performance.

No effort, on the part of the company, to retain good engineers who work hard. No incentive for young engineers to stay and buy in.

Advice to Senior Management – 1. Stop benchmarking other Honda plants and take time to SERIOUSLY benchmark other OEMs in terms of salaries and benefits. We're losing good people at an alarming rate. The problem with only looking to Honda DNA for innovation is your family tree never branches.

2. Stop preaching about going to the spot and actually do it.

3. Consensus among stakeholders was once a fundamental way we did business. We need to get back to this way of doing business. Being top-down is no different that many of our competitors.

4. Stop promoting people only based on business needs and actually reward high performers for just simply being good at their jobs. Someone doesn't need to lead people to be great at what they do.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Honda of America Mfg. full-time for less than a year

Pros – Did not enjoy working here

Cons – Does not welcome new ideas

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Honda of America Mfg. full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Job security up to now.
Very good pay and benefits so far.
In the beginning you were the expert and decentralized management was the philosophy. Now centralized management is the way.
Safety, Quality and the customer was the goal, now only Quantity.

Cons – Very hard and physical work.
The Honda philosophy is dead and forgotten.
Management has no clue as to how to run this company efficiently.
Moral is worse than I have ever seen it.
All tools used by the associates (suggestions, quality etc.) have been so diluted they are worthless.

Advice to Senior Management – Learn and understand the Honda philosophy!
Stop finding the blame and find the problems.
Quality costs nothing!
Listen to the experts.
Solve the problem don't band-aid it!
Advancement from within is very slight.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company