A Great Company" is the first illusion you will find here, Until...
Pros
Please Note: The reason why this company is actually listed as an "Other Organization" is because of its unique nature. The described "Company" here (the Ralph Schomp BMW Branch in this case) is actually one of a tripartite of automotive franchises owned under Arapahoe Motors, Inc., an essentially private, "family-owned" business (See "Ralph Schomp Honda" and "Ralph Schomp MINI", the other two DBA titles also owned under them), as they call themselves... Company Vision? "To be loved by everyone, except the competition." (Work here, and decide for yourself how much "love" it's worth, is all that can be said...) Perks: While the employee vehicle leases and discounts on parts, service, and merchandise may be an initial perk, perhaps the best aspect is the ability to learn about a completely different industry you may not have been exposed to. As part of their new hire process, paid (though just decently) training provides an ever so *slightly* appealing incentive to come on board. Also, to add another dimension of appeal, they offer a physical trainer, masseuse, yoga instructor, and an adequate-sized fitness gym. Paid Vacations are only available after 1 year of service, and are *decent* at best, if you can manage to last as long... Though these all are offered, their appeal only lies if you either care or will be able to use them... Benefits/401k: Regarding their Benefits and 401k programs, these are not considered anything out of the ordinary for a business of this scale. There is dental coverage, and some form of insurance, as far as can be remembered, but it still remains very standard. LOWER Management and Co-Workers You will almost always find Lower Management (as in the ones who work closest with you) Awesome. Since they do suffer your plight to a justifiable extent, their scope of understanding and empathy will practically be in your favor when you request for help or assistance. By this alone, makes the work experience much more tolerable, and at best, enjoyable. Note, though, due to the rigidity of the political structure, even their best help is limited by Upper Management, so you can only take what you can get... You will find mostly down-to-earth co-workers who will for the most part, be enthusiastic and cooperative with your activities. If anything, your experience co-workers may be perhaps the best aspect of all. Everything aforementioned can be taken to be the Rule of this particular organization--Actually, there are more Below!
Cons
Company Vision?! (Reprise) "Cost me dirt cheap, make me [more] money (than you)! And! I Don't Care About You!" -Upper Management While the Automotive Industry is known to be a rather tough, and inflexible business, this company is pretty much in a category of its own: Work/Life Balance? More like Work Always For Me! Though a Sustainable Business Model can be understood by just about anyone, it has been shockingly observed that this company is almost inhumanely driven by profit! While the "One-Price, No Haggle" sales model employed here is partially to blame, never has it been experienced by any number of former or continuing employees the almost outright human disregard for their needs! See Upper Management, Their Culture and Ethics below for the rest... Compensation: Though this is the automotive business, from personal experience, has there never been an observation of a greater pay disparity between positions... While the Ownership and Upper Management are making top dollar, Sales second to that, Service, Detail, and other Smaller Jobs make essentially minimum wage, after taxes. By virtue of this, comes the Exception (that used to be the Rule)--that there exists Disrespectful, and Egotistical Sales People and Upper Management who feel entitled to walk all over you just because they made more money than you... in spite of the fact that your work made everyone else's (including theirs) possible...Though the base labor rates for these so-called "small", but important jobs are *slightly* above the minimum wage, this makes trying to work from the bottom-up extremely difficult, given the already top-heavy, inverted pay pyramid in place... Upper Management, Their Culture and Ethics... If it will cost you your valued family time during the week, days to run errands, or valuable studying and homework time, Upper Management will Bully you into getting things done for them, by implicitly holding your job hostage! This is especially the case for incredibly logistical- and process-stringent jobs and tasks, if deemed important enough to their own pocketbooks. They WILL Blame you for shortcomings in your job for conditions and situations you personally have no control over, which already violates ethical work practices. Due to the fact that the current Upper Management staff are not the best and fully qualified for their positions, they purposely utilize Political Means, Denials, and otherwise Fear Tactics to make up for their shortcomings. Though they may claim they "understand" your situations, they will deny you further support due to "existing company policies", if it will cost them extra money that they do have, no matter if the actual extra support does improve your overall working situation and ability to do your job well... (and implicitly, the company as well...). By fact of this, establishes the unnecessary amount of obstructive red tape. This amount of Unethical Politics proves the hypocrisy, and the weakness of the Top Leadership, as they see you nothing more as a wage laborer, and give an unsatisfactory level of empathy, goodwill, and trust, even below a normal workplace. In Short, because of the Strong-Armed, Fear-, and most importantly, Greed-driven process that this company embodies, Working for ANY of the "Schomp-" Franchises will essentially amount to Modern-Day Wage Slavery. As objective as this review was originally intended for, these observations have sadly amounted to Employee Exploitation behind a Twisted "Family-Owned" Business Image. They may claim to support the community, but at such an ugly cost... Hence, a high turnover rate of employees can also be verified thereof. Sadly, what once was a respectable "Family Business" has now decayed into this... All in All, there exists no future in working for or at Schomp BMW...