Pros
The company has a lot of potential – it operates in an industry which is very fragmented and complex; somewhat of a land grab, no single player dominates. It’s owned by DP DHL which is a German household name with strong international ambitions. The group does have a robust vision and the very top management in the HQ is solid (though I would argue, somewhat removed and oblivious to the cut-throat competitive reality in the US; nevertheless, globally they seem to know what they are doing). There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a “get things done” attitude which is refreshing. That translates into career development opportunities (in the head office at least) which are quite remarkable for a company that size. They do get some things right and some customers love them. The benefits are decent and the work environment is laid back and “family-like” for the most part.
Cons
DHL Global Mail is the “red-haired child” in the DP DHL group, i.e. it is smaller than the other divisions and has lower quality standards. Most employees have been there for several years and some are very knowledgeable but most of the knowledge is “tacit”. It’s a nightmare for anybody trying to learn the ropes. You feel like you are constantly playing catch up. There is no culture of documenting processes, standard operating procedures or SLAs. Nobody seems to think it’s important and as a consequence, service breaks down a lot. Top (local) management really has no understanding of the complexity involved in how the services are produced and delivered to customers, nor do they value the people who do. “Shoot from the hip” decisions are made without fully understanding downstream impact to customers. They have some really good people whose work is not appreciated enough, and in contrast, other people, deemed as “high potentials”, really baffled me because the quality of their output was so poor. Many employees operate in silos and don’t really care what happens down the pike, once their part of the work is done.
