Nautilus Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Nautilus

Pros – Relational interaction positive, lively fun culture.

Cons – Many financial ups and downs while they get their feet back on the ground.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Nautilus full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – It was a strong company back 2001

Cons – It's management need's a lot of work but they hire good people

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

Current Employee – been working at Nautilus

Pros – Supply chain analyst not a bad job but no promotion oppertunities. Has a nice gym and good benefits a plus

Cons – working for a complany that has disvalued 10 x over the last 5 year is hard limied promotion advancanments avaliable

Former Employee – worked at Nautilus

Pros – Nautilus has a very nice, clean, well-kept work location. It's convenient and is in a great community; with great access because it's close to nice neighborhoods, schools, shopping, etc. There is a sense of pride that comes from working in that location because like the other reviewer wrote, I challenge any employee to drive pass the impressive flagged entry and not say, "I work there!"

There is a wonderful free gym with all the latest equipment and beautiful outdoor facilities such as the artificial turf football and softball fields and basketball courts. They used to subsidize personal training expenses but personal trainers are no longer available.

The benefits seemed competitive. The employee discount on product is quite generous (typically better than 50% off MSRP).

They used to have an onsite employee cafeteria but I've heard it's closed.

Several individual managers do seem to genuinely care about their employees and are great to work for. Some are loyal, trusting and fun. I had the opportunity to work with a lot of great people over the years.

There is a lot to learn. It is a fast-paced environment and it was never boring. I was challenged and I felt that my contributions made a difference in many ways.

Cons – The company has been losing money for some time now and continues to make cuts to decrease expenses. Employees are constantly asked to do more for same compensation, while senior management typically beef up their wallets and provide no real unified direction. At one time, I could fault them for trying to be too many things, to too many people, but now it's hard to tell what they want to be.

The Oracle JD Edwards computer system they migrated to a couple of years ago is not user-friendly and while is robust for other company needs, it fails on many levels for delivering customer service. It is very inefficient and cumbersome and is not adequately supported by the IT dept. It takes minutes to deliver service to customers that should take seconds. Customer service is generally an after-thought and the company has historically focused more on the top-line sales which is what put them into this financial crunch.

The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing despite an overabundance of meetings. Meetings may have outcomes or action items, but they are not well communicated or followed through upon in a timely manner. Overall, the company is very poor at communication. Employees rely on email communication and tend to copy everyone-and-their-brother for cya purposes so email is out of control.

Not all call center employees are bad, some are great, but it's more of an atmosphere where a few bad apples spoil the bunch -- too many of them are sleeping with each other and gossiping rather than focusing on work. Since call center calls are recorded, they avoid being caught by rampant and inappropriate communication via a company resource: Microsoft Communicator instant messaging. Many are young, uneducated, and professionally and emotionally immature. Starting wage is about $11/hour, and it doesn't attract enough qualified, educated candidates.

The split to individual channels causes disfunction, inefficiencies and lack of cooperation between departments. The business is disjointed now and people are constantly looking over their shoulder. Senior management is secretive and there is a general distrust in the air. Employee morale is atrocious.

There have been opportunities to advance but perhaps are a bit pawn-like, especially with all the business changes, so sometimes one is subject to where management wants to place you next. Just be sure they don't over-promise and under-deliver. If you can't get it in writing, then don't trust that it will happen. There is little succession planning and based on the on-going changes, it would be hard to lay out a definitive career path. There are possible long-term opportunities if company completes turnaround, but one would have to be particular about where one wants to be long-term and be very patient.

There is little to no brand management which is too deplorable considering they have some of most widely-recognized brands.

There is too little focus on Quality. If they shored up some of the quality issues, then there would be less warranty claims and returns. Taking products too quickly too market and not adequately field testing causes these results.

PTO is use it or lose it and does not get paid out when departing employment.

I could go on, but in summary, Nautilus is a perfect business case study. If only someone would figure it out in the short term. Despite its issues, I think long-term, this is a VERY viable company and if I could see them making a comeback with the right leadership, I would work there again.

Advice to Senior Management – Be serious about brand management. Get out of the ivory tower and get down in the trenches and listen to what employees and customers are saying. Engage senior management in a unified vision. Share that vision with employees and rebuild trust.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Nautilus

Pros – There is some transitory pride in telling people you work for Nautilus, because it is a nationally-recognized brand. The building is oversized and impressive; just try driving past with a friend from out of town without pointing to the flags and saying "I work there."
Employees and their spouses have access to the large fitness center on site. In addition to the usual health insurance and 401k type benefits, several local vendors offer small discounts (5-10%) for Nautilus employees. If you want to buy fitness equipment, the employee discount is significant (50-60%). Depending on your department, time off can be flexible.
Each fresh, new face keeps hope alive that someday the corporate culture can change into something healthy.

Cons – The company as a whole is disorganized and communication is dismal: one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. Nobody seems to have (or care about) a grasp of the big picture. Computer systems are haphazard, and departments that should be closely related don't speak to each other.
The atmosphere continues to be vicious, even a year after the departure of the toxic former CEO. There is still no sense of community or team effort. In some departments, managers focus on what is best for themselves, and don't bother to train, support or teach their reports. Throughout middle management, there is a lot of infighting, backstabbing, namecalling, and use of aggressive and dishonest tactics to elbow out their peers.
Rolling layoffs and perceived secrecy from above keep everyone on edge.
In this corporate culture, you can just imagine the chances that your manager has time to recognize your value. (Heaven forbid he/she does, because then you will present a mild threat.)
On the plus side, if you can call it a plus, you develop thick skin after awhile.

Advice to Senior Management – Please sell the company to good, honest people. Attitude comes from the top.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Nautilus

Pros – Premier company with the best brands in the fitness equipment industry. The Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA area is a great place to live. The quality of life and affordability are excellent. Great schools in the area and easy access to the city and outdoor activities.

Cons – Incompetent management. Without question lacking in the ability to formulate a comprehensive company strategy and execute to deliver on its promises to its employees or customers.

Advice to Senior Management – There have been far too many company lay-offs when the focus should be on the management team running the organization. Nautilus' issues can simply be solved by cutting costs. You are running out of people to lay-off!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend