Cisco reviews

At some level, the emperor has no clothes. This is from a non-sales, support function perspective. Compensation model for non-sales personnel was consistently below market, and there was a polly-annish devotion to stock options. Who remembers "The drive to 35?" Unwillingness to recognize that it had become a large-cap, slow-growth company, and needed to move from an options to a restricted stock model. Managers have too much control over review process, and there is too little emphasis on rewarding talent in a fair and consistent manner. Perception is much more important than reality -- e.g. review process too focussed on peripheral "initiatives," rather than business results. Inconsistent messages -- selling the world on telecommuting, but making it difficult for your own employees to do it as well.

Because the company does a great job of looking after it's core employees, it has a tendency to reward mediocracy as opposed to driving for/promoting excellence. The company has not done a good job at staying young over the past 5 years and there is a little too much bureaucracy in the organization to be nimble and effective.