material handler

route sales representative

independent distributor

Snyders-Lance, Inc.

A typical day at work: Super stressful. Pulled in different directions. My department was lead by 5 leaders. A manager, 2 team leaders, a clerk and a pest control team member. Each team leader was able to focus on specific job sites, and the job sites team members, the clerk took care of all documentation for the entire site and pest control team member managed the pest control program, pest control documentation and worked exclusively with our pest control outside contractors. The Site eliminated the managers position, 1 team leader, the clerk position and the on site pest control position leaving one person to do it all. Though I welcomed the challenge and was successful at it, in the end it proved to be detrimental to my work/life balance, worked 50+ hours a week and it was difficult to focus. I had to work long hours, be a part of multiple meetings in order to cover each issue and plan for upcoming events throughout the entire site. In the end I was in charge of the Sanitation department for the site which had 8 buildings, Pest Control, Janitorial and I created, implemented and managed documentation by myself. I was also a part of the SQF internal auditing team. Site leadership never considered me for a manager's position so I ran the department just as a team leader.

What I Learned: I did learn a lot. Everything I've learned as far as sanitation, food safety, chemical control, kronos was all in Snyders. I appreciate all of the on the job learnings and technical training. But if you have a desire to become more valuable to the company you'll have to be pro-active. The management now will not invest in you otherwise. If you stay quiet, you will be overlooked. No matter how much of a good job you do. Management in the past made sure those considered for leadership positions went to as many trainings as possible to up their value and help them move up within the company. Don't expect that anymore.

Management: Is a bit out of wack. Disconnected with the team members. Most of them will walk into a room full of team members and not say a word to anybody. There's a lack of trust as well. As a leader you have to understand that the team members are your most important resource so I always treated the team members well. Not everybody thinks that way.

Workplace Culture: Typical manufacturing experience. Fast paced, challenging. Most of the team members/Leaders have positive attitudes and work very hard, some are complacent with no drive to become better and some are down right terrible and negative. Overall my experience with the team members in all departments were great. Myself and other leaders worked well together and accomplished a lot of good things. Site leadership has a couple of honest and transparent people that recognize peoples talents. Others are stuck in their own world.

The Hardest part of the job: For me was doing the job of 5 people by myself. Like I said above I was able to handle it, I welcomed the challenge because I wanted to be recognized for my efforts. But it did have a negative impact on my personal family life, I was mentally and physically drained daily and I had difficulty focusing because so much was going on. And regardless of how much I had on my plate compared to anyone else...I wasn't recognized for my efforts.

The most enjoyable part of the job: Was the team members. Developed a wonderful relationship with them throughout the years. They were the reason more than anything that I was able to handle the different obstacles I faced. I will miss them greatly.

If they could keep the staff full on 3rd shift (and 2nd), there would be far fewer problems. The mandatory overtime is what kills it. If it were 40 - 48 hours per week, it would be ok. But for all the talk about wanting employees to have a work/life balance, they don't do enough to allow it. You can be mandated for 3 overtimes per week and the only way out of it is to use flex-time (their answer to sick time) or take 1/2 an attendance point. You are fired when you reach 8 attendance points and they stay on your record for a full year from the date you accrue them.

They do offer fairly good wages, but there is some disparity between certain positions that should be making more than they do, such as maintenance, QC and group leaders. 

Once you have been here 90 days, you are eligible for benefits. You also start with 80 hours paid time off. This is split into 40 hours vacation, that require pre-approval and flex-time, that you can use without prior approval (aka. sick time, but also useful for last minute appointments, etc). It can be used in 1 hour increments, too, so if you need to be an hour late, you call and use an hour flex. 

The first increase in time off is at the 5 year mark, then you get an additional 40 hours paid time off.

Overall, I would recommend it because once they are back to full-staff, the overtime situation will ease up except when someone is on vacation.

Working was always pretty much routine. Pre shift meeting, Preparing paperwork, Relieving for breaks as I could run all machines which is why I was Relief Person. Making sure that quality product was heading out the door. Enter necessary documentation into computer at end of shift
 I have learned that if you see something that doesn't look right that you need to keep your mouth shut and turn your head in the other direction if it doesn't have anything to do with you. 
The Management is not good. Have gone through about 8 supervisors in 5 years and upper management seems to change on a yearly basis. They keep moving people around which in turn the people end up leaving. With new supervisors always comes a new set of rules.
 It was a very physical job which I liked because I stayed active and physical.
 New hires came in the door making $4.00 per Hr. more than people that had been there 20-30 years. Last year at raise time they said that they wanted all PMO's to be at that pay scale this year at raise time, then when I asked for a book to make sure I knew everything that was needed to do this they said they weren't doing it anymore.
I love a challenge so working to make high numbers and low waste was right up my alley. Seeing coworkers everyday was always nice as we worked long hours and not many off in turn really made us a work family.

Don't do it if you're thinking about buying a route yourself, better off as a merchandiser meaning you work for someone else who owns the route and employs people to operate it. Unless you plan to expand and do the same, don't buy a route. District sales managers do not care about your profits and losses, just their numbers. You'll be in debt more often than not week to week, working 80hr weeks with no days off, holidays unless you hire someone else for those days and trust you trained them well. You try to change ordering procedures to streamline your business and clients can call corporate who "write you up" because you don't want to fill a giant display with stuff that goes stale, which only you pay for. Corporate bills you when you buy the load and don't care if you can't get rid of it, just the money every week please. You want to drop your spending a week or two, they call or visit your store managers to find faults so they can cry foul and say you're not serving customer well. They just want you to buy from them at a consistent and increasing rate. Be ready to be salesman and keep up with store ads months in advance, hope your store managers and receivers and other vendors aren't power trippers who damage or "misplace" your product.

Pro's pay to include salary, bonus, company vehicle and benefits. Ability to showcase your abilities as a leader and build your team.

Con's senior leadership delegates more than your regular duties and responsibilities to include new employee training that is accountable to the zone managers. Misleading of your IBO partners on a regular basis. Never compensate you for your weekends so the work and life balance are non existent. Key account managers that are in place to support do very little to support and mislead you as a manager with no accountability. Holding IBO's accountable for poor service during family crisis instead of providing team support due to lack of a team mentality. Extremely bad reputation with customers in all areas of DSD. Running an open route and managing other duties with very little to no support. HR communication is terrible. Leadership is non existent only managers from the top down. Poorly ran cooperation worried more about their stock holders and bonuses than the people killing themselves to make the company successful.

You will wear many hats to include manager, driver, warehouse support, bin support, collection agency, legal and hr. Good luck having any life outside this overly demanding poorly led company.

The good part is that when you are a packer, you rotate jobs every hour. This helps get you through your day, which you need. The bad part is that everything is so fast paced, that it can be difficult to keep up. Some of the operators turn up the machines, to make them look extra productive, but the burden lies on the packer, to keep up. You never feel like you are really appreciated, you tend to only hear about the negative things. Since Campbell has taken over, there have been no raises, and the personal days have been removed: replaced with extra holiday, so they can control when you have time off. You have mandatory overtime, and are forced weekends. They could ease up on some of that pressure, by hiring weekend help, or getting people to come in and work on a Sat., or a Sunday, for an employee, who has worked enough overtime during the week, and needs off on the weekend, but they haven't figured it out yet. As a result, it has become very difficult for them to keep help. Nobody wants to be there all the time. We all need a life outside of the factory. The benefits, and pay are better than most places in Hanover, but you work hard for what you get.

I would like to start by saying I loved my job at Snyder's Lance but if the other packers don't like you, they will destroy you and management will not do anything about it. It's really hard work, it keeps you on your toes.  It's best if you don't make friends or talk to really anyone. Being at Snyder's was like going back to High School, lots of drama, down talk and no one in HR or even the supervisors do anything about it. I learned a lot like how to work at a really fast pace, how to pack off/pack on, inspect the snacks, clean a difficult work area and clean it often. The hardest part i would say is when your co-workers watch you struggle and even when calling for help they just watch you drown while you frantically do your best with malfunctions in the work place. I enjoyed the hours I worked and the pay i got. I was making great money until Snyder's threw me under the bus. A tip from my own personal experience, if you get sexually assaulted, don't report it because you will get fired not the one who assaulted you.

• Drive revenue growth within assigned sales territory by maximizing Direct Store Delivery sales strategy, growing brand/product revenue, market share, and profit
• Identify and act on selling opportunities, responded to competitor activities, maintain/increase product space, make secondary placements, gain additional displays, make effective sales presentations, make effective use of sales data
• Continuous recognition for building solid relationships with key decision makers
• Collaborate weekly with management team to ensure forecasts met territory expectations, accomplishing 100% Reach & Frequency
• Ensure maximum publicity for product through development of store displays and distribution of promotional items
• Effectively communicate findings/recommendations to management to increase productivity
• Achieve sales volume expectations by working with existing clients and pro-actively searching out new business opportunities for current customers and prospective clients

Poor management and organization.  Lack of proper training. What's good for one is bad for another. No chain of command properly established. Unclean areas, especially break room coffee pots...eww. People stand around and talk for hrs, while others never leave their seats. Constantly being told something different by someone different. Tell you to ask for help, but don't help you when you ask for it. Consistent lies and back talk between everyone. Not a professional environment but they want you to be professional if they don't like you. No job stability at all. Could be layed off at any moment. No older employees which looks incredibly bad. Management is way to young to be running the entire facility. Some very immature people in management positions. Unnecessary "dirty" talk. If you don't have the same opinion as some others, they turn hateful. 
Their business partners are not treated fairly. Unequal practices between different servicing areas.

Snyder's Lance is a great company to work for if your looking to work hard, and not have much time for family or a social life. Typical day of work was machine operation, cleaning, and entry level mechanics when necessary. This job requires a lot of endurance both physically and mentally. The management teams were always stressed and tired, and had a tendency to take it out on the employees. But what I had to learn was to separate my feelings, and not take it personally. the job was what you made of it, and the compensation and ability to have overtime was outstanding. The co-workers were decent at times, and a select few were very easy to get along with, and worked as at team. The hardest part of the job were the demands placed on you, and dealing with being fussed at for what seemed like minor mistakes. The most enjoyable part of the job was the few employees that were great people to work with. And the compensation was the best part about working for this company.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Material handler 3 salaries reported	$16.33 per hour
Route sales representative 2 salaries reported	$62,500 per year
Independent distributor 1 salary reported	$700 per week

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