process technician

warehouse associate

quality assurance inspector

customer service representative

machine operator

Essentra PLC

I have never worked anywhere that so unprofessionlly run as this plant.  Even the fast food jobs I worked when I was young were far more organized.  This is a supposedly ISO-certified plant producing almost exclusively pharmaceutical cartons.  However, there are no formal procedures or training for new employees.  You are given a few days of 'tribal knowledge' (if you can find someone to share it), and then thrown into the fray and expected to know as much as someone who has been there for a much longer time.  In the two months I worked there, the plant had two different Operations Managers, two different Quality Managers (with the most recent one hired from a completely different industry and no clue as to what we really did), and no permanent HR department.   
Work/life balance was terrible,and frequent requests with insufficiant notice were given to work hours other than your own to cover large gaps caused by management's inability to recognize the actual workload and properly staff the department.
This is a dirty, unsanitary, and aging building, with water leaks, an inconsistent and unpredictable climate (wreaking havoc on the consistency of the paper stock).
There were constant IT issues, and despite the facilty supposedly being the IT 'hub' for North America, any IT requests would actually go to Singapore (!), where someone who barely spoke English might eventually try to address your problem if you could find a common time frame you were both available.

Don't bother.  You CAN do much better.  I promise.

My typical day usually started at 6:00am and usually ended around 6:00pm with a few calls on the off shifts. I would make it a point each day to converse with each of the shift quality team to find out how they were doing and if there were any issues to resolve of if there was something that I could do to help.

I was involved with meetings, team building, process improvements, client and internal audits, customer complaints, internal issues, conference calls, etc. 

As Quality manager I was engaged with management, quality department, manufacturing personnel and client services on a continual basis.

Over the years I learned that team work, continual process improvement and investing in personnel were essential for the future of the company. 

Our plant management was top notch, I would stack them up to any company. They were highly skilled, knowledgeable, and caring. 

The hardest part of my job was seeing the employees faces when the plant closure was announced. 

So many process improvements were implemented and successful it was hard to understand the decision to close.

My most enjoyable part of my job was the people and friendship made over the years.

I love working with my coworkers on my shift!We all work together and help each other to complete our daily tasks. What I hate,and cant stand or understand is that 2nd and 3rd shift  never contribute to the schedule for the daily duties, no reprimands or repercussions for not doing the task or duties they are hired to complete,pretty much get paid to do nothing for the 8 hour shift they work. Then it all falls back on first shift the next day, to finish the prior days schedule.And 2nd and 3rd shift get paid 20% more than first shift,but we 1st shifters do 75 to 90 % percent of the daily schedule! And they refuse to accept the fact,that 1st shift deserves to be compensated more than 2nd and 3rd. 1st shift always has and always will be treated unfairly in every aspect whether  right or wrong!

People get promoted that are incapable of doing their work and they don't know what else to do with them. 
Company grows by doing hostile takeovers of other companies. Work will include trying to get information from coworkers that know they're being cut loose.
Some team members are amazing, some are backstabbing. If you're fortunate, you'll work with a good group. 
Those at the top calling the shots are disconnected from the employees and projects may have unrealistic deadlines for a mountain of work.
It's a global company, so there are travel opportunities for training events.
Occasionally people are encouraged to relocate, unfortunately if your entire department is moved, your choices are: a) move but stay at the same pay and sign a 5 year contract locking you into a location that may or may not have a higher cost of living b) take a different job that won't have anything to do with your work experience c) be permanently laid off.

Benefits are good. Pay is not as high as it should be. 
No one can put up with the stress of this place long term. There is no work - life balance. People are resigning constantly. But the open roles aren’t filled. Rather the duties are spread amongst the remaining employees which makes work - life balance even worse. 
Hourly staff has to work daily overtime and weekends as well. Problem is that people making decisions to work weekends never have to be there themselves. 
Trying to retain good employees with $ for their efforts is difficult due to the “no raise over 10%” mentality. It comes across as unwillingness to fight for those who are worth fighting for. People can just go down the street to make more money and get a larger signing bonus. 

I like working for Essentra. There are many benefits for employees to take advantage of. Essentra has a gold mine here in Greensboro if management will restructure its training program. In a nutshell, pay employees well to do a job and expect employees to actually earn the compensation and benefits or cut them them loose! Management seems to have a “Well, it’s a warm body attitude.” Too many employees are earning a good wage with little productivity. Specifically production support employees (helpers). They often are not around when needed. I would like to see management end this train of thought and demand more from support staff. There are so many talented employees that are becoming increasingly discouraged by this practice. I think that many of my colleagues would agree with this assessment.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Great people across the business.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Lack of standards and training.  There is no real investment in people.  Compensation structure does not motivate or incentivize the right behaviors or desired outcome for the overall business.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment is average.  Every job has moments of stress but they don’t celebrate success well.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Very transactional and reactive.  Orders, opportunities, and quotes come in daily.  Other challenges across the business come up daily and they are really hard to solve due to poor communication across departments.  Sometimes people just don’t know where to go.

IT support team is extremely micromanaged and not provided with appropriate and useful knowledge bases, processes and procedures are filled with outdated information. Organizational changes often, they retain few long term since new management. 

The average salary for the IT support team is far below the average for this role in this region of America. 

The SLA is unfair for some promoted members to Senior level, that have been given extra responsibilities, yet are expected to meet the same SLA's while given half the time as the other half of the Tier 1 Analyst

Get ready to work every single day. Overtime is mandatory. It’s long grueling hours for some amazing pay, IF you actually get paid what the indeed website offers. Otherwise they will short you $4-$6. They offer free work shoes once a year, but will wear out 2 months in due to all the standing and manual labor you will succumb to. If you show ANY management you know how to multi task well, they will dump a heavy ton of work in your lap and expect you to work that work load every single day no complaints. They have the most amazing people working beside you though, it almost makes it bearable. Almost. It’s the demanding hours and unorganized environment that I would be weary about. Management has a tacky way to show they appreciate their employees. HR is for the managers and not the employees. 

I have learned every aspect of this business through the many roles I have held.  I started as Marketing Communications Manager where I managed all marketing initiates; both online and offline.  I then took a role as Business Development Specialist before being promoted to General Manager.  While in these roles, I have learned everything from generating custom quotes to inventory control.  My vast experience comes into play on a daily basis, as I never know which one of my many skills will be required that day.  The hardest part of the job is managing a very lean crew and meeting expectations.  I have enjoyed managing a staff and learning the warehouse/logistics aspect of managing a business.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Process technician 8 salaries reported	$23.00 per hour
Warehouse associate 13 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Quality assurance inspector 8 salaries reported	$16.25 per hour
Customer service representative 2 salaries reported	$57,500 per year
Machine operator 5 salaries reported	$15.50 per hour

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