manufacturing associate

sales specialist

machine operator

engineer

account manager

Herman Miller, Inc.

In this position I rolled out a new program that had been piloted within  the country for several years.  It was my job to help drive sales within the program.  That entailed training dealerships on how the program worked.  So several times a month I would lead sales reps through the program and how it worked.  I also held several training days on the program itself to the entire dealership.  

On a typical day I would go to one of my dealerships and connect with the staff and see what projects they had they might need help with and help them decide if the program fit that projects needs.  Then I would either go out with a sales rep and make sales calls or go by myself and make sales call in that region.  I would also set up blocks to help people hone in cold calling skills where we would take turns cold calling in front of one another.

Management was an interesting situation.  I had two bosses that have very different ideas of how the program should be run.  One thought my job should be cold calling non-stop and the other thought I should be managing the program because I wasn't allowed to close a sale or give quotes to the customers.  This along with the fact that they made my position mutually exclusive to the existing territory mangers as far as compensation made the job very difficult.  When it was being piloted the territory managers were getting paid on the program and when I came on they were not. I was told multiple times they they did not want me there and I was stealing  money from them.

I loved getting to train, present and interact with the dealerships.  That where I thrive.  The hardest part of the job was the internal culture and fit over wether my position should exist.  That inevitably led me to leave the position.

It was a good place to get manufacturing experience and had nice benefits, but that was about it that I liked. There was way to much drama and the management for third shift wasn't great. It was annoying how first shift always got treated better than third and the third shifters would get forgotten when it came to holidays, company events and safety. Herman Miller claimed to care about your safety and liked suggestions, but when you would actually suggest things for safety and improving the workplace they would almost ignore you. They didn't really listen to what you had to say. I also disliked before being hired in how the temporary employees through Adecco would not be treated as well as hired in people. When you were a temp you did not feel like part of the team you had to wear vests that made you feel like you were on a different team than hired in Herman Miller employees and felt almost segregated and alone from everyone else. I found that it was very stupid that Adecco team members could not join any safety teams again when safety was supposedly so important there! Also when it came to management I hated how there were favorites and people that had been there for so many years would not get written up or punished if they didn't follow the rules but newer people would. There's just too many things that I would change about the 171st Spring Lake, Herman Miller workplace.

The culture at Herman Miller is quite different for hourly and salary. 

Hourly paid are expected to work as if you are a volunteer slave. That is, you work very hard doing three or more people's job during the course of your workday. No time for a breath except during your scheduled breaks. The reason you do many different jobs is that you must keep busy no matter what. Herman Miller really gets their monies worth with production employees, low pay and hard labor. 

Salary jobs are mostly stress-free if you are competent. The balance between work and home life is available if and when you need it. You are able to check your social media and make personal phone calls whenever you want just so long as you get your work done, which is far from a full plate.

Hourly jobs have been reduced to standardized work, meaning everyone does the same thing the same way. No longer does a production employee require an IQ over room-temperature. Salary jobs are better paid and more rewarding, more flexible for life's problems and come with advancement opportunities, unlike an hourly job where it is assumed that everyone doing those jobs are unable to think for themselves.

Working on an assembly line with anywhere from 2-8 people which we rotate positions every hour. Fast pace, repetitive work with a great team to work with. I learned how to assemble office furniture and cubicle walls. Managers are strict where it is needed, if you are a hard working line they tend to not give you a hard time. I worked 8-10 hrs/day 5 days/week. each day consists of two 20 minute breaks. Also learned how to run the assembly line which I would say was the hardest part of the job. That job consisted of retrieving the parts that was on the schedule for that day, organizing how it will go down the line, labeling the parts and making boxes all at a fast pace so the line does not run out of work. I really enjoyed all of the people I work with. It was very laid back and we all worked really well together. My one complaint would be that they revolve their holidays off around 1st/2nd shift and sometimes forget about 3rd so our date that we would have off would end up being the day before the holiday, not the actual holiday and we would have to come in the night of. Our hours there are 1st shift 6am-2pm, 2nd shift 2pm-10pm, and 3rd shift 10pm-6am.

As a Former operator, this place was very enjoyable. My co-workers were amazing. If you had a question about anything, someone would answer it and help you. Management could've been better. In the department I worked in.. our boss wouldn't tell us certain things that first shift knew about which sucked because if we ran into that problem you would be down for 2 or 3 hours with maintenance. I ran a Andi router, and it was very hard but I enjoyed it because I wasn't standing around all day unless I went down. But other that I was constantly moving. I would go home and still have enough energy to do a lot. Pay was pretty good as well. As an Adecco you get payed every Thursday, and as an employee it was bi-weekly but still on Thursday. There was overtime but it wasn't bad at all, it's totally worth it. Lastly be on time! I struggled with that because my home life was stressing me out and I would sleep through my alarm and call in. I miss this Job very much and if the opportunity came up, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

HMI has a great legacy here in West Michigan, which grew from modest beginnings. I believe since HMI spent so many years developing this legacy while maintaining a forward thinking attitude, even in questionable times, that it has gained the respect of not only the community but also its employees, while respecting their employees in return. I can identify with this long term goal forward thinking attitude, especially after earning my engineering degree at 40 years old. My personality has always pushed me to strive for new and innovative opportunities, but also allowed me to constantly gain new respect for the vast variety of co-workers I have met during my life journey. The take away from these meetings is probably much like what HMI has learned over the years; support those who have supported you, development and positive reinforcement will form the strongest teams and personal ownership of even the smallest of responsibility within the company will make each employee come to work inspired and leave satisfied.

Though full of excitement upon appointment, I quickly saw the dead end coming. Despite growing territory sales 100% first year, dealer principal clearly stated disinterest in corporate program. local leadership was ineffective, while corporate leadership ignored information crucial to local territory success. multiple applications for transfer went unnoticed. eventually told to model productivity after another sales rep that had less sales, less growth over previous year, less progress towards goal, and averaged fewer customer touches per week. 

Basically, the mission statement and values are cloudy at best. Management is weak (with employee confidence even weaker). Compensation may be decent for higher level sales/management, but extremely low for entry level positions.

Even though it was an internship Herman Miller still taught me some skills such as:
- Team work skills
- Computer Tech
- Finance
- Retail and Marketing
- Strategy
- Ability to make good informational Presentations 

While I was there I actually got to work in different areas of the company. During the Summer portion of the program I was able to work in 4 areas of my choice for a week each such as:
- Finance
- Hospitality 
- Retail and Marketing
- Inclusiveness and Diversity 

Where as the other 4 were of Operations such as:
- Maintenance Engineering
- Manufacturing Engineering

The most enjoyable part about the job was not only the welcoming atmosphere' but how they help you advance your skills so you could move up in the company.

I actually liked working at herman miller, however I didn't get treated fairly by anyone that I worked with not even my supervisor. The hours were ridiculous, you had no life. It was like if your life wasn't completely dedicated to them you weren't worth the time they'd move you around somewhere else or they got rid of you. I went through herman miller through a temp agency and I sent in my application in at least 3 or 4 times and each time they told me the either didn't receive it or they had it but lost it so I told my temp rep that I will send another one in but if I get the same excuse I'm done and I'll quit. It happened and I was done. They do not care about their employees whatsoever. If you were not higher up in the offices, the actual important people you didn't mean anything to them.

Working 3rd shift it is nice to have kind people to work with and a nice atmosphere to come to work in. There was a lot of overtime so that is something to be prepared for but you are compensated well for it. The jobs are very repetitive and easy to pick up because of that. The management was nice my first 2 summers and those are now the 1st shift bosses and my last summer they brought in some new bosses that are very well liked and kind. The hardest part of the job is learning to get use to the repetition and how to make it something that can be enjoyable. For me it was part time so getting tired of it I was able to tell myself I could leave soon so it was fine but if you ask to do different activities within the company they are willing to teach if you have the drive.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Manufacturing associate 8 salaries reported	$16.75 per hour
Sales specialist 6 salaries reported	$18.64 per hour
Machine operator 2 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Engineer 4 salaries reported	$71,250 per year
Account manager 4 salaries reported	$140,897 per year

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