Belden Reviews

3.7

72% would recommend to a friend

(402 total reviews)

Ashish Chand

100% approve of CEO

62% positive business outlook

Belden has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 402 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Belden employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

402 reviews
1.0
8 Sept 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

If you don't like your boss, wait a little while...

Cons

This company has serious issues from the CEO to the VP level. The CEO runs the company like a bank, rather than a manufacturer. It's all doom and gloom among the employees, with countermeasures and threats because the unreasonable targets are not met, but then come the end of the quarter, the CEO announces that we've had the best quarter ever. Miraculous! The acquired companies that make up Belden don't seem to really be growing, but on paper – because of a regular acquisition strategy and moving money from one currency to another – Belden appears to be growing to the shareholders. Hence, voila! Increased share value! Whatever keeps him on his jet, I guess… Once a new company comes on board, they are shuffled into obscurity. There's little investment in R&D, little investment in marketing, little to no support of sales people. By being bought, the company has served its purpose. It's time to move on to the next acquisition. But as an employee – especially in sales – you'll be data managed to death. The CEO is invisible to the rank and file. He rarely shows up for company-wide meetings. He's kind of like Bigfoot – someone has seen him, just not anyone you know. Generally, the only interaction he has with his below-VP-minions is a monthly two-page letter which invariably obsesses on share value calculation. If you have the misfortune of hearing him speak, it will amaze you. He can delve into the most granular and deep mechanisms of how Belden's share value is calculated, but in the entire speech, he will not once mention the value of employees to this process. You do “feel” him, though, through the countermeasures and corrective action pressures he exerts on the VPs which roll downhill like boulders onto your head. Gotta keep him on that jet, you know... As was mentioned in a previous review, don't just take the word of these reviews here (watch out, too, for the artificial reviews posted by HR to counter the negative ones). Look up former Belden staff on LinkedIn and reach out to them. Hear their experiences before you sign on the dotted line. There's too many companies out there that know how to value their employees to spend even one moment with this miserable organization.

1.0
30 Aug 2016

Complete Dearth of True Leadership

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You do have the ability to leave the company at any time.

Cons

The industrial division is one of the most ineptly run sales organizations of any company I've seen. Over the past eight years, the group has gone through seven VP of sales, each time throwing highly qualified leaders to the side until the executive team could settle on one who has had no experience in sales, nor any leadership qualities necessary to running a sales organization. Current management believes that leadership entails merely holding endless conference calls to discuss spreadsheet data that are readily available through the company's sales tracking system. You will experience no sales guidance or mentoring, merely criticisms that the team isn't living up to it's contribution to share value and the latest unrealistic sales goals. Bonus monies are subject to disappointing changes well into the process. These are not the qualities you would look for in a company as a sales professional. Since the current sales leadership took over, the industrial group has lost over 24 highly qualified individuals, with only three of those being let go (those individuals being highly qualified as well). The team is in a downward spiral, and more departures are imminent. The CEO runs the company like a fiefdom, pushing money and acquisitions around the board like chess pieces to prop up the share value, while ignoring the true leadership requirements needed to keep a company engaged and energized. Employee forced ranking is hard-coded policy here, a practice popular at the infamous Enron, and one that most companies have since abandoned. The employees tend to be guided only by fear of losing their jobs. Most who have departed have questioned why they did not make that decision sooner. You will not find a former employee who is disappointed to no longer be working for Belden. Following the failed takeover of the competitor Ruggedcom, the former Ruggedcom CEO Marzio Pozzuoli made this comment about Belden to the Toronto Star news organization: “They are bottom feeders.” And the Star says: “Belden had a reputation of sucking the competitive zest out of the companies it acquired.” Belden is truly a graveyard of once successful companies. Stay away from this toxic corporation.

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Glassdoor has 520 Belden reviews submitted anonymously by Belden employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Belden is right for you.