OWC Reviews

Unfortunately, the many cons of working at OWC outweigh the the few pros of working there. In fact, there are so many cons to working here, I’d give 0 stars if that were an option. Toxic Culture - As cited in many other reviews, OWC has a very toxic culture. The CEO micro manages and is very much a control freak. The worst part of the micromanagement is that he doesn’t communicate when he’s meddling. Often times I found out about decisions he’d made from vendors instead of directly from him. I can’t begin to describe how embarrassing that feels. I was sent very condescending emails directly from the CEO, but don’t worry he always puts a smiley face at the end of the email, so everything is A-OK(sigh)!! The workload at OWC Is high and stressful because of the misallocation of resources mentioned below. The single worst thing about the culture is the CEO’s delusional about it. He thinks there’s nothing wrong. I know he reads these Glass Door reviews, as he’s brought them up in town hall meetings. Unfortunately, his solution for the problem was to encourage other employees to put positive reviews on Glass Door to offset the negative ones, instead of actually addressing the issues that are causing the toxic culture. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing when he said it. Picture your best shocked face. I know from firsthand experience that the CEO takes our product reviews extremely seriously, but apparently doesn’t extend the same courtesy to his employees. The president of the company and the HR department aren’t helping the problem here either. It’s their responsibility to go to the CEO and address these issues, but they haven’t. I’m not sure if it’s in interest of self-preservation or if they’re just as delusional as he is. Lack of Leadership - The biggest problem at OWC is the complete lack of leadership qualities in the executive branch of the company. The CEO of the company is one of the worst leaders I’ve ever met in my entire life. There are no company goals set to keep everyone on the same page for what OWC is actually striving for. How are managers supposed to set departmental goals or individual goals with no actual company goals to align with? A good example of this occurred during my exit interview. I asked the HR employee conducting my exit interview what our company goals were and she looked at me like I was speaking French. No answer. The closest thing to a company goal is the CEO constantly saying “Powering Onward and Upwards”, which everyone in their right mind knows isn’t an actual goal. The president of the company is in the same boat when it comes to leadership qualities. She’s an extremely smart person and deep down I know her to be a good person as well. She has many skills that could benefit the company in other roles, specifically running the Marketing department. However, with the lack of leadership qualities, she’s misplaced in her current role and would never be in the position she’s in at any other company. That position requires someone with strong leadership skills who can go toe-to-toe and challenge the CEO on some of the poor decisions he makes. The current president is content with constantly playing Switzerland on everything. Unfortunately, anyone who fits the bill for the president role has either jumped ship, is planning on jumping ship or has been fired for speaking up. The CEO hasn’t helped her in her role either. I genuinely feel sorry for her for the position she’s been put in. When I left OWC, she had 18 managers reporting into her. Not only is this unfair to her, it’s unfair to the people reporting into her. She can’t possibly manage all those people effectively and those people can’t get the proper support from her that they need. The organizational structure of the company is extremely broken. Allocation of Resources - The lack of adequate product roadmapping and planning has lead to a major mis-allocation of resources at OWC. Over the last few years, there has been some roadmapping, but most of the product ideas are CEO driven and are often off the cuff. These products are often green lit without adequate financial analysis, resource planning or even communication to important players in the project. This leads to major communication issues between departments and often delays things further. The priority that’s put on each project’s is confusing as well. Often times, minor revenue products are prioritized over major revenue drivers at the CEO’s request. This leads to the major revenue products not getting the TLC that they deserve before they hit the field. OWC doesn’t have the head count to support the sheer number of projects being done at once. This has lead to several high level managers and good employees being burnt out and leaving the company over the last few years. The ones that stay have so many projects and responsibilities on their plate that they don’t do any of them well. Future of the Company? - No companies are completely future proof, but I have serious concerns for the friends I left behind at OWC. The lack of direction/leadership, toxic culture and misallocation of resources make me seriously question OWC’s future. I don’t believe OWC is in jeopardy of closing its doors anytime soon, but I wouldn’t want to be there 10 years in the future. OWC caught a nice run when Apple became extremely popular. However, Apple’s recent business positioning suggests that computers are taking a back seat to their mobile/tablet business. Apple has released fewer and fewer computers and each one has been less and less upgradeable than the previous generation. This is seriously cutting into OWC’s opportunities to sell upgrades for these machines. I’ve seen little to suggest OWC is looking into other avenues to future proof their business 10 years down the road. Unfortunately, I think the company’s best days are behind it, rather than in front. Nepotism - There are a few people related to the CEO that are in positions that they aren’t qualified for. Specifically, one is a manger with ZERO people skills and no tech skills either, but is managing a department that relies heavily on both. Several good employees have left the company or were forced to transfer out of the department just to maintain their sanity. The vast majority of the senior managers within the company do not want to work with this person for the same reasons mentioned above. This person is never held accountable either, which makes things even worse. No accountability means no change, which means OWC will inevitably lose more good employees because of it. Compensation - I was underpaid in several roles throughout my tenure at OWC. I was promoted into a management position and received no additional compensation until I had been in the role for over 8 months. Almost immediately after leaving OWC, I was offered the same role as one of the people I was managing. The compensation of the lower role was 10k per year higher than the management role at OWC. For years, OWC has justified their compensation rates behind the guise of “cheap cost of living in McHenry County”. This was probably true in the company’s early years, but certainly isn’t true now. Illinois and McHenry County specifically have some of the highest property taxes in the country. Based on my experience at OWC, I believe the whole compensation system needs to be reviewed and adjusted accordingly. Benefits - Outside of the 401k program, the other benefits the company offers aren’t great. The health insurance is great if you’re single and enroll in the incentive programs the company offers to reduce insurance costs. However, if you have a family, the insurance costs are through the roof. I’ve seen much better costs offered from other employers that my family and friends work for. Vacation time isn’t great either. To earn 4 weeks of vacation, you have to work for the company for over 7 years. That seems behind the times as well. My spouse has had several new jobs that have offered 3 weeks from the get go. The real big hole in the benefits package is the lack of profit sharing. Executive management has been promising it for years, but still no sign of it when I left. It’s a shame because I think that really could help some of the overall culture problems at OWC. Bonus structure at OWC is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. The CEO has direct input on how much everyone in the company gets despite not having direct contact with all of his employees. There are no goals or metrics that determine bonus structure, so you’re completely in the dark with the amount you’ll be receiving.