Reading through the other reviews about kohler, I’m seeing consistent mentions of development and pay/career upward mobility being a pain point working at kohler. The responses are cookie cutter “we’re surprised to hear you feel there is a lack of development opportunities and encourage you to speak with your manager/work on your development plan” . No. When you see a common issue being raised both here AND in Glint surveys, that shows the problem is not associates failing to “talk to their manager” about things. That shows kohler is failing to provide associates and managers with the tools needed to plan their careers. It is not an associates job to beg and plead for fair pay, consistent career growth when goals are achieved, or a clear plan for development. When you consistently see high performers quitting because they are told “sorry, we’ll discuss that raise come next year” or “HR doesn’t allow for us to promote you yet” that means there is a procedure problem, not a problem with associates not taking the initiative. Competency models were created and are not followed. External hires are paid significantly more than those who stayed “loyal” to kohler and “worked” their way up. Once you’re in, do not expect more than 5-10% raises for promotions (which usually only come when you agree to take on SIGNIFICANTLY more work, so your “raise” is usually not proportionate to the increased work load/hours) and 1-3% for yearly raises. The majority of people I work with are not even paid at the MIDPOINT of their roles salary range, and they’ve been in their roles for years…. It’s not uncommon to see someone stay just below mid senior level for 5-10 years with no plan for development beyond that. You can use kohler as a stepping stone for another CSG company with better pay, but wouldn’t recommend picking kohler as your “career company”.
