maintenance technician

forklift operator

operator

equipment operator

production operator

Compass Minerals

Left right when major changes were beginning to take shape, will be interesting to see how the company evolves with several new people in upper management. Think there’s lots of potential, giving younger people more chances and having a flex schedule, dress for your day, etc. Was provided with a job description from my recruiter that didn’t match at all what I did, no CPG was listed which is a majority of what the company does. Position changed towards the end, became more analytical. Boss who is no longer employed at the company, didn’t know how to manage and was a major micro-manager, which made the work environment extremely difficult to enjoy what I did along with the position. Really liked a majority of the people I worked with, many long timers but several stuck in their ways, which doesn’t make it easy working with and for them. Towards the end it became a revolving door with the turnover rate and lots of gossip constantly followed. Could be seen as a cutthroat environment at times, people trying to get a head and not caring who they trample in spite of this.

Cons: Bad management, lack of a promising culture, no real major job training, good old boys club that started to change right before leaving, HR seemed a bit incompetent most of the time, health benefits and PTO aren’t great, got rid of merit increases unless you met all criteria to receive them- which was unattainable, had events but eliminated them, micro management, lots of corporate politics- had to show up just so you can be seen, constant changes, revolving door for people leaving, not much growth potential, enjoyed traveling until I was kept from doing so for no reason at all, constant budget cutting, really big company, building falling apart, not enough offices but constant meetings

The company is made up of older, long term employees who do not understand or embrace change.  They actively fight against new ideas or concepts and seem to take little issue or action with how their employees behave.  I've been around some of the most unprofessional behavior in my career here and the HR department seems to turn a blind eye to such things, especially when the offenders fall into a 'minority or diversity' classification.  

Senior management wears suits all day, every day and there are very very few young employees working here.  The culture is a terrible fit for young people.  Cube walls tend to be 6+ feet which discourages collaboration and makes being at the office much like a trip to the library.  IT Director is hated by all of his managers and staff and will probably cost the company millions of dollars and the loss of very good staff due to incompetence and disinterest.  

Compensation and benefits are pretty good but that doesn't make up for the fact that the culture is stuffy, old school and resistant to anyone who might actually care about making the company better.  Company touts a set of 'core values' but doesn't come anywhere near living up to them.  Integrity is the most important value but their actions in how they deal with the worst offenders demonstrates anything but.  If you end up working here, just get used to punching in and punching out without rocking the boat or trying to do anything overly useful and you'll be fine here.

The culture that management promotes is absolutely disgusting here.  They lie constantly, blame everyone else for everything that goes wrong, and seem to actively promote the least qualified people to management positions.  They have supposedly eliminated someones position several times only to put someone who's extremely unqualified into that same position but they'll just call it something else.  It's really quite unreal.

The non-salary folks are treated like scum by nearly all of management.  They are completely unresponsive to any kind of feedback, even when they ask for it.  Management that doesn't carry that attitude seem to be systematically driven out.

They've also squashed the pay advancement system.  There's a barebones policy, but it's completely unfinished and has been for almost 3 years (when it was rolled out).  The absence policy was also gutted and is now just a way for managers to play favorites and fire people based on absences, even if there are others in the same department that may have far more.

It's too bad, there are many really great people here that you can learn a lot from.  I honestly don't think that the culture out there is salvageable anymore.

Take too long in the bathroom ... they want to know why.

Take too long warming up your frozen TV dinner for your timed 10 minute lunch break... they want to know why.

Take too long repairing your 1920's style production machine.... they want to know why. 

If you're an hourly you not to be trusted, if you management you are an untouchable***

This is the first place I've ever worked where there are company policies that are written like the apply to the whole plant, but really they are there to keep hourly employees in line and management had immunity to do what they want because obviously they are smarter than you and more trustworthy.

No connection to being human.***

Someone in your family dies, they want you to bring proof if you want to attend the funeral.

If you get sick or come down with a life threatening illness they give you "points" for it till you're fired.

Hourly doesn't get sick pay, but management gets full sick pay.

If you have a family emergency, they time you on how long you can be gone for it, you have like 24 hours per year. After that they start to try to fire you.

Almost everything here is a negative incentive.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part about about the job for me was the was the production managers one who is now plant manager,and the co-workers. Was such a good environment,the fast paced work on forklifts,and running some machines was very nice making the days fly by.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I would say the most stressful part of the work was worrying about,what could happen if the machine was having problems. But it was less stressful when it actually happened.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment was great. I got along with everyone,if u try to be good at your job they encourage and build u up and make it great and u become really good at it and enjoy it.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Getting to work a lil early to drink some coffee and conserve with others. Then going out to work with everyone doing there part to make everything run smoothly, enjoying how fast time goes by with the fast paced work.

This place has their people picked! If you’re one of the “good ole boys” your job will be a breeze. They take great care of their “yes” men who blindly do whatever is asked of them whenever they’re told. Safe or not. Good workers are overlooked everyday if you’re not part of the clique. If you refuse to be buddy buddy with your supervisor and prefer to have a professional relationship with your manager, prepare to sit back and watch them worship the guys who “suck up”. Family emergency? No problem! You’ll still be penalized for missing or showing up late! Car accident or troubles? Not a problem at all! They’ll still penalize you for having to call in! 30 minute lunch.  If you have good work ethic, prepare to get railroaded. They don’t care about your ethic or attendance, you are just a number. Oh and if you bring a problem to someone’s attention, you’ll hear about it. They don’t like to hear any concerns or “complaining” as they call it. They’ll turn a good worker into “one of the rest” then complain about it. 

A typical day consists of managers telling you things are being fixed and then nothing is done, they go to meetings every day and talk about what needs to be fixed but almost always throw their hands in the air and say "I've got nothing"  the company says they care about their employees but still only stock 1ply toilet paper, and the recently stopped giving us water bottles because it's " more environmentally friendly" when really they could've put in recycling bins and called it a day. The real problem is the stock price is lower than it's been in over 20 years and they're trying to save money. Over all, the composition is the only highlight, they pay just enough that it doesn't make sense to quit and start somewhere else but not enough to really save much. Find something else If you can. Not to mention the schedual is a rotating 3223 ( 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off) and every time you get three days off you switch from days to nights

I loved working here. The pay was fair and decent. The other employees were kind and fun. Also helpful when starting. There was some clicking going on between employees but they were still kind. There was another employee working with similar handwriting as mine and I kept getting reprimanded for their mistakes and then apologized too. In the end it came down to myself and that employee for the position permanently and they went with them. The reason being was they had just obtained their degree. Though they had little to no experience and kept getting reprimanded for mistakes...well I did. Anyways I loved working here. That sucked and that person is no longer with them. They quit not to long after.. ha.

This place preaches safety, but they really don't believe it, or practice it for that matter.

They keep having structural failures in their buildings, they have had 3 since I've been here in three different  buildings.

Several times, these structural failures  almost cost employees their lives.

When they finally repaired each one of these structural failures, management here will actually come around and panhandle for "thank yous" for doing the right thing in the first place. It's a really odd mineset. I don't get it.

OSHA just needs to open a field office next to this place, that way I can stop having to hand out "thank yous" for things they should have done in the first place to keep us all safe around here.

If you work here, get the life insurance package in case you find yourself in a structural failure. At least your family will be taken care of.

I was contracted to work at Compass Minerals on and off for a few years. Most of my experiences were positive. Office staff was always helpful. I was there when they were going through some company changes that created a lot of job loss. It was hard to see people go and the glib way they were dismissed, some after decades of working there. The lower level employees were friendly, a bit rough around the edges but honest.  Mid level managers were good, only ran into one that was completely dishonest and a massive liability to the company.  The company should watch their managers more. I'm certain this guy ripped people off for his own gain.  Safety culture could be improved, unfortunately that departments hands are tied due to production being the priority rather than safety of the employees.  
I would recommend it as a place to work. Like any place you need to look out for yourself and watch your back.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance technician 2 salaries reported	$32.50 per hour
Forklift operator 3 salaries reported	$22.79 per hour
Operator 4 salaries reported	$25.02 per hour
Equipment operator 1 salary reported	$24.00 per hour
Production operator 1 salary reported	$24.87 per hour

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