An uninspiring, slow-moving, lost and stagnating dinosaur tech company - Recensione dipendente - Dipendente anonimo presso Nuance

Leadership has no vision, if not outright incompetent. The lack of vision and focus is letting opportunities sail away. The company is building products after products that do not sell and for which there is no or very small market. It is as if engineering and R&D are building products as a means to justify their existance and size in the company rather than the other (more logical) way around, i.e. engineering and R&D as the means to an end: making an idea reality; buildnig the products and solutions that customers want. Bureaucracy, politics and processes flourish in the company. No innovation, no thinking outside the box -- not in products, nor in management styly -- only the rigidity of bureaucracy and processes, managing by numbers and stats. Smooth talking gets you far at the management level. Many managers are technically inept. Quality work is not recognized for what it is worth; or perhaps managers just inept to recognize quality work or quality products. Managers protect their own little empire. Teams and divisions are isolated from one another. So don't count on management and HR to encourage career change or improvement. The company is deep in obsolete corporate culture and processes. The top never seek feedback from employees about their direct manager. So in other words, Nuance is a managers company, not an high tech worker's company. With lack of two-way feedback, workers are at the mercy of their direct manager. If the latter wants to steal all the credit, the worker cannot do anything about it because no one outside the team has any visibility on what's really happening within the team. So their is tendency for managers to manage for their superior, not for their subordinates. This is a totally backward and obsolete self-destructive management style. So needless to say, morale is low and "brain drain" is constant reality. There is no customer-focused culture either. It's all about signing that contract for the next quarter, often by over-promising but under-delivering, not about securing long-term return customers. Engineering and R&D are isolated from customer feedback, sitting high up in their own shiny temples. That's why there is no real innovation in products. Products are mediocre at best, one new product after another. "Ease of use" is still a great mystery to Product Management. How do management deal with competition? One division manager answered: (paraphrasing) "If we feel a company is a threat, we'd buy them." How would you feel if you hear such an answer. Would that motivate you and make you feel confident about this company? I do not recommend this company if you are very talented and want to make a difference and wish to work for a company that "goes places". You will be frustrated by the bureaucracy, the lack of opportunities for advancement and the stagnation around you, working on products or services that you do not believe in, when it's no working to fix the mess created by others. On the other hand, if you just want a good paying job and view your job as simply a way to earn a living and you do not seek satisfaction or achievement and you do not really care where the company is going and how it is doing as long as it doesn't affect your job security, then you should consider this company. Or, if you are a charming, friendly and smooth talking manager looking for an easy time, perhaps preparing for retirement, then you may also consider this company. Not much relevant technical skill and knowledge needed.