account manager

human resources business partner

Hilti North America

This is a great, terrific, amazingly wonderful company at the global level, but the HNA market (Hilti North America) has a problem at the upper management level with a cultural hubris that sets management up to fail, and they fail often and grotesquely. 

First, management is very commonly brought in from outside, to the wide disappointment of loyal employees working towards development. Degrees are gold, especially if you’re a “Thunderbird”, but experience is practically worthless, and hiring a veteran and utilizing their leadership experience is a novelty, and an unappreciated one at that. 

Outside management is often *highly conceited,* and I can’t stress that enough, as it is integral to their failure to develop their teams. 

Questions and ideas are often met with challenge, which is usually ok, except when that challenge is presented as personal, and met with contempt, often inexplicably. 

The values are presented as similar to the US Navy (Honor, Courage, Commitment), namely Teamwork, Integrity, Commitment, and Courage.  But these values are not outwardly exhibited by senior management, especially at the Divisional level. 

Once challenges or coaching opportunities arise or are identified, the expendability of employees in the minds of upper management become apparent, and coaching becomes a matter of termination for an individual. My former DM was nicknamed “the Terminator” and many of the people I worked with for years were fired without apparent case, and while a range of rumors abounded, all shared a common thread: that the career-ending (alleged) offense was easily a coachable or teachable moment. 

This management style creates several problems. Teammates are often set against one another, will be dishonest to advance their interest, or CYA, and are thus afraid or unwilling to share responsibility in correcting a course (throwing others under the proverbial bus instead) and seem committed to their own success rather than the team’s. 

Once you leave the company, you’re PNG’d, and no one remaining with the company will publicly continue a relationship with you professionally until they leave or are terminated. It’s pretty sad, actually, because the global culture is awesome. 

Also, the tools are great in many ways, BUT, they aren’t as good as the team members are indoctrinated to believe, and many customers are ready to roast you on Hilti’s reputation in the US to oversell the PFB’s in a “show up and throw up” style that is a real turn-off, and can be your first barrier on many sales calls. Hilti reps, and especially managers, are widely known for being particularly egotistical and cocky. There are many manufacturers who sell better tools ad products, but many Hilti reps are indoctrinated to believe they’re the best, at their own peril, and that goes back to the problem of the forementioned hubris at HNA. 

I’d like to say more and be more helpful, but I’ve got stuff to do today. Just manage expectations and watch your six.

Hilti is a very stable and solid company to work for. The management team (global and regional) usually have a solid vision for where they want to take the company and go to great lengths to articulate that vision to the employees. Rarely will you ever wonder what is expected of you or feel the company is drifting. They make reasonable attempts to listen to their employees to fix issues and offer great benefits. 

The Tulsa campus is nice and well-kept and there is a general pride in the products offered by the company. They also make a great effort at teaching you everything you need to know about the construction industry and the tools and products sold by Hilti. You will have a wealth of tools and resources to aid you throughout training and day-to-day functions with customers. 

The annual compensation is less-than-ideal though and expect to be overrun and over-extended. The high workload leaves you feeling underpaid. Expect the usual 3-5% raises each year but nothing substantial beyond that. Because of this, going above and beyond in your work is usually not worth it as you are not necessarily rewarded monetarily. Bonus structure is not very enticing if you are in a non-sales role. Often, bonus targets are set so high or based on measures beyond an individual contributor's control that it isn't worth giving much extra effort to attain.  


 You absolutely must be willing to speak-up when you feel burnt out. You must also learn very quickly to draw boundaries and limit how many extra projects you can realistically take on. Otherwise, work will continue to be piled on top of you. In my experience, managers will listen and divert extra work and tasks to other co-workers to help you avoid burnout when possible. 

The lack of 100% WFH options is very disappointing, especially when we proved we could be just as efficient and productive at home offices. Many people like coming into the office and the hybrid schedule is good. However, for those that thrive remote, the option was shot down immediately despite overwhelming evidence that it works and provides a greater quality of life. While the company is very innovative in the tool and construction markets, they retain outdated modes of corporate structure and thinking. 

I personally have never had a bad manager at Hilti and each has taken a personal interest in my career development and progression. Having said that, if you are not willing or able to spend 2+ years in a major metropolitan area as a field sales rep, your options for career advancement are severely limited. Most internal promotions are less merit-based and more "who-you-know" type endeavors, as is common amongst all larger corporations. 

Overall, Hilti is a great place to start a corporate career and learn the functions of business. Beyond that, if you cannot promote within a 2-3 year time frame, just move on unless you are OK with the lower annual pay and small yearly increases. 








What is the best part of working at the company?
Relative autonomy of working remotely and managing your own schedule and obligations.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Reporting responsibilities with Salesforce and the referrals and leads generated within.  The expectations set forth by managers change frequently, and the work demand seems to continue to increase.  It is not the old fashioned sales work. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very culture driven, which means jump out of bed and get your Hilti Red on!  High energy, goal driven, team oriented, and always demanding more of you.  Difficult to maintain the energy and work level when you have family or personal interests outside of work.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Rise before 6 a.m., log into systems on laptop and start reading emails.  While you are prioritizing your email and internal messages, answer incoming customer calls and help put out fires.  Check calendar and ensure you are aware of days's online meetings with manager, team, division, or market organization.  Block out time for day's obligations and start day by leaving home office and heading for first customer visit.  Typical day is visiting 5 - 10 customers either at office / shop or job site.  Deliver orders, diagnose and plan solution for customer problems, continue customer visits while answering multiple phone calls during day.  Wrap up day by updating all customer visits in Salesforce, acknowledging and updating leads and opportunities in Salesforce, and planning following day.  10- 12 hour work days are typical.

Start by applying checks to accounts in SAP based on the detail provided by the banking sites. The mail runs about 10:00 pull all faxes and start separating the mail by departments and pulling all  checks to be entered on an Excel spreadsheet for deposit to the bank. Send out all W-9 tax request to customers and any HNA check copy request provide those to the credit representatives. Enter lockbox totals for the day in Excel. Print out any additional correspondents from JP Morgan Chase and distribute. Go back to applying checks to accounts in SAP. Respond to E-mails when needed. Also 2 to 3 times a week enter deposit dates on to the check log in excel.  
        The learning part of my daily tasks is to be focused on your work
live your companies beliefs and keep an efficient run desk. 
        My Manager expected us to own our desk but was always there if assistance was needed.
        We worked as a team always checking on the other to make sure if they were bogged down we were there to assist in anyway possible to complete the job.
         The hardest part of the job was staying late hours around the Holidays to meet year end requirements when you wanted to be home with family. But that was part of the position and was required 
from all of us and we stayed until the job was done.
          The company balanced out hard work by providing its employees with special Heet events whether it was tickets to a game, or food days besides the acknowledgement of a job well done.

We would work different hours on different weeks, I.E. three days of 12 hours one of 8 hours and one of 4 to 6hours. then depending on available personnel this would change to something else. I learned much in the way of  minor engineering due to the anchoring materials for differing materials and strength needed for various applications. Also the knowledge of choosing the right tool for the job to be done. This being a new way of doing business for Hilti, they were in the process of selling not only the tools and fasteners that they made in a retail setting( Home Depot Stores) but instead of seeing a traveling tool representative at a job site the average do it yourselfer or small remodeler also had access to the knowledge of the proper way to utilize the tools that they had purchased. Hilti and Home Depot joined in selling high end equipment along with the expertise of use to every day people. Hardest and most enjoyable part was learning in two weeks what was necessary to responceably send customers back to their jobs knowing that what they were about to do was correct.

Hilti has a great reputation as an employer and as an industry provider. After working for the company for over two years, I have found severe culture and integrity issues that threaten that perception. Some of these problems exist at a  corporate level and are likely to affect employees regardless of location.

Positives
- Great training and sales enablement
- Good salary, benefits, and bonus potential
- Somewhat flexible schedule and ability to achieve good work/life balance

Negatives
- The company's engineering department knowingly and as a standard practice omits load data from submittals  to achieve more attractive proposals for customers.
- Every direct report manager I have worked for or interviewed with has been willing to lie or psychologically manipulate  to get what they want, both with employees and customers.
- Division level management has knowingly withheld proper sales credit from team members to boost their own metrics, without accountability from upper level management.
- Upper level management does not always follow through on their commitments.
- I have made several attempts to shed light on and resolve the aforementioned issues without success.

Decent company, but as many reviews state : if you are over 50, in sales with Hilti , "watch your back"....pay plan is more like a 3-5 year plan as it changes every year.  Company expects double digit growth based on past success.  However , the company has NO memory of ones past success. Anotherwords: Hilti is very much a "what have you done for me today " company.  Management is often from the outside (no sales experience , yet some management experience) so management actually has absolutely no idea of what the actual day to day activities are of a typical sales person.  This company likes young people who do not talk back , that they can mold to their design. I could go on yet it is futile as Hilti seems to have evryone fooled.  When I retired after 32 plus years(over 35 million in sales )  ... I was given no exit interview ... just told I was just another "red shirt" easily replaced.  I have been gone over 13 months and the company has gone through 4 sales people already in my old territory.  This company also has too many secrets they will not share with employees.  If  a major change is coming that will affect your income ... you will be the last to find out .  (too many secrets )    ,.....etc etc etc

Of course you had to do your job and do it well.  But they made it enjoyable and made the hard work worthwhile.  I worked in the Marketing Department the entire 25 I was with Hilti, Inc. and I started out as a Secretary A and within time I moved to Sr. Administrative Assistant.  There was very limited growth if I wanted to stay in the administrative field but the company made it well worth staying.

I worked for the Sr. VP of Marketing and my day would look like this; review my boss's email and handle any I could and inform him of the ones he needed to respond to.  Approved his direct report's expense reports and time uses.  Attended monthly team meetings and take minutes.  Using an excel spreadsheet tracked employees vacation and sick time.  Typed dictated emails and memos, open and distribute mail to the appropriate areas.  Answer phones and take clear messages. 

When the economy was struggling in 2008-2009 Hilti was feeling the downturn and had to lay-off 110+ employees.  In Marketing there were a total of four assistances and all were let go.

My work experience with Hilti Inc., which was 4 years 10 months and 8 days was unequivocally in the top 3 of best Employer. I'll tell you why using a 3 prong approach sorted by relevance.

First and foremost, was the incredible training both in Tulsa Oklahoma and here in California. Hilti spared no expense sharing their knowledge and expertise with it's employees. From the start of basic training, which promptly began shy of 7am, to letting us get down and dirty with the new generation of power tools they were about to premier.

Secondly, along with training they equally spared no expense with team building events and company culture journeys seminars to invest and instill the mission statement/core values of Hilti Inc.

And lastly, I would like to point out there was no hard or easy at Hilti.
It was Doing! Doing your best...then tracking how your are doing your best ...and see through fundamental, yet specialized tracking/training, if you can do better than your best. I could go on.
I know I would have enjoyed a long and enjoyable career/retirement with Hilti Inc.

Pros:

Hilti has a strong brand and reputation in the industry.
Great products and innovative solutions that are easy to stand behind.
Solid training and development programs for employees.
Cons:

The company has made it increasingly difficult to earn a good income, especially with the shift to quarterly bonuses and long waiting periods to actually receive them.
New employees are often hired at higher pay than existing employees, which creates a sense of unfairness, especially when current staff are expected to train them.
Merit increases are minimal, typically below 5%, and employees are required to go through a lot of effort for any meaningful raise.
The focus seems to be more on hitting specific metrics than driving actual sales, which can feel demotivating.
Advice to Management:

Consider prioritizing fairness in compensation for existing employees to retain experienced talent.
Adjust bonus structures to be more timely and achievable.
Focus on real sales performance rather than just metrics to maintain a motivated and loyal salesforce.


Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Account manager 5 salaries reported	$60,174 per year
Human resources business partner 1 salary reported	$94,940 per year

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