Nice people; management by spreadsheet - Engineer Hach Company Employee Review

4.0
2 June 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Hach company is a leader in the field of water quality instrumentation. It has highly-integrated manufacturing capabilities encompassing everything from injection molding to circuit boards. The people are friendly, and everyone tries to do a good job. If you want to see "lean" manufacturing and business practices happening in the real world, look here.

Cons

Management is almost exclusively by spreadsheet. Under the guise of "continuous improvement", yearly goals are set so that nobody can actually meet them. Almost everyone gets a "C" on their review, and raises rarely top 3%. Investment in new product development had risen in recent years, but R&D spending is still no more than 6% of sales. Hach's corporate owner, multinational Danaher, is using the business as a cash cow to fund other acquisitions.

Explore other reviews about Hach Company

5.0
26 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible PTO Super friendly management and executives Accepting culture. You can actually be yourself (tattoos and all) Fantastic pay and benefits They treat their employees really well

Cons

I've been here for almost 2 years and I really haven't found any cons yet.

2.0
12 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Decent pay, good hours, fairly simple tasks, some hybrid flexibility.

Cons

Constant micromanaging of performance and KPIs. Performance is posted to the entire department with each error highlighted, be it minor or major. I was actively discourage from asking for help, or questions if I was unsure about an aspect of the job. Myself and my cohort were also actively discouraged from speaking or communicating with one another. This bred more competition and animosity between some employees in tandem with the constant focus on KPIs and comparing scores. Contract-to-hire was on a case-by-case basis and was said to be performance based as well as seniority based. This didn't always track as managers would be inclined to favoritism and certain employees would get fast-tracked or left behind their initial hire groups without explanation. Terrible first responder system for medical emergencies and education to employees on how to handle it (which occurred frequently).

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