Graybar Electric

Not sure what the specifics were but I can tell you that the company refuses to stand up for managers, if you are accused of anything in Graybar via the infamous "hot line" just pack your bags. An unblemished record stands for nothing, welcome to the Atlanta District.

While this may be true at a lot of locations, it is not true at all. I was a manager for several years, and got my position due to my work ethic and knowledge (I was up against a well known ***-kissing yes man).

My superiors and subordinates were all told by me that I would not kiss butt, nor would I tolerate any of my direct reports doing it either. I told it like it was (which got me reprimanded more than once), but my group rarely had customer complaints, because when I got them, I dealt with them directly and promptly. My customers knew they could count on me to resolve any issues ...

however, not all managers operate that way. I may very well have been one of the small minority of managers that actually enjoyed their job and enjoyed customer service.

What is the office environment there? career path?

management? is it a good place to work...like u feel valued?

The fact of the matter is Graybar will continue to do what it wants. The branches are free to carry on business anyway they desire and want to regardless of the corporate vision.

The president is very weak has visions but does not know how to make them become a reality. There is no accountability for any one to make a decision. All *#&# rolls down hill and it is put on the lower level employees that actually know how better to handle a situation than a manager. Micromanagement is very high here and borders on harassment of the employee.

The inside sales reps are required to do a minimum of 30 calls a day, along with answer email, phone calls, customer complaints, order placemnet, financial complaints, logistial quoting, quotes, follow-ups, CSR screw ups that cost money, the list goes on and on. The biggest problem is the employees that kiss *** and are worthless are the ones that are either promoted or retained in the branch. All of the awards that have been listed above are submitted by corporate to those publications and a lot of favors are done to be on that list and published.

There is nothing free for that recoginition. Graybar really needs to clean house from the top down to really become the best it can be.

Mr. 25+ years.

Congratulations! You managed to make it through the fields of *** and are almost there! Just hang in there. Hopefully no one will try to talk to you in the next 5 years or so.

Thats how you know a Graybar manager is lying, when their lips move. So keep your head down, and your mouth shut. And if by chance you somehow did manage to have a competent boss, you might want to do him a favor and tell him about Granger or Wolf Brothers or any local supply house where his talent and brains could be better used. Heck tell him about Wal*Mart!

Truly Good Luck to you! I hope they treat you better then they treat others.

Here is a voice of a 25+ year employee owner who is thankful Graybar stuck by me during my maturity stage and allowed me opportunity to work with wonderful people in wonderful cities with great customers and vendors. Has everyday and every person I've come across been utopia ?

Of course not ! EVERY company has pros and cons.

My opinion, after working in 5 different branches and 5 different districts is that Graybar's history and culture and benefits are pros that far outweigh the cons.

Thanks for the opportunity to give my opinion.

I was in the Canton Graybar last year, and was told they didn't accept cash any more. What business dosn't accept cash?

You can write a check or use a credit card, but good old American cash is no longer accepted.

Since then, I have taken my business down the street to another electrical supplier. Its a good thing too, i was told that the Canton Graybar is closing down.

I have never been involved with a company (like Graybar) where the executives "play business" as little girls play house. Most all the executives started at lower levels in the company, and I'm sure never thought they would reach the levels they've attained. Graybar has some very good, hard working employees, in spite of their poor executive managers.

Ok...so its obvious you still work for Graybar and get paid well...Congrats...Have they told you that you are a hard worker??? Have they told you your job is "safe"? Those are the first indications that your about to get screwed.

I like the way your article was written..."I can't comment on anything specific said in the article, (which leads one to believe that the original story is probably true), but I’m going to stand behind another company's review of Graybar and dazzle everyone with numbers and awards!!" And for more info, please visit fortune's web sight? Is that a hope that people will leave this post and continue reading about the wonderful company that Graybar supposedly is? Where are all the posts from the very happy and satisfied employees and customers? Surly they are lining up to defend their local branch. They are there saying “this is all false of course nothing like this would never happen”. Right? Hello??

But this is how all problems are handled at Graybar.

"We are losing Market-Share, will our pensions be secure, since the company sales are crashing and we are going into debt???" - A very concerned worker.

Oh what will corporate say the that?

"For the third straight year (2009), Graybar has ranked No. 1 on the annual

FORTUNE “World’s Most Admired Companies” list in the Wholesalers:

Diversified industry category. This is the eighth consecutive year Graybar

has earned a place on the list.

The 2009 listing featured 363 companies in total, and Graybar ranked

highly in all relevant “Best in” categories that comprise the key elements of

reputation, including:

• No. 1 in Management Quality - QC should be fired.

• No. 1 in Long-Term Investment - change that to long term Borrowing

• No. 2 in Financial Soundness - refers to the abundance of echo heard in the Graybar vault.

• No. 2 in Quality of Product and Services - they make NO products and service NOTHING.

• No. 4 in Use of Assets - Yep, they own buildings and trucks….and they know how to use them.

• No. 6 in People Management - is that in a 6 way competition?

• No. 10 in Innovation Innovations of what? Nothing has changed there since 1925.

A total of 689 companies from 28 countries

were surveyed. The Most Admired companies were featured in the March 16,

2009 issue of FORTUNE. To learn more, please visit www.fortune.com.

This does nothing to answer any questions. Just more worthless *** for everyone to read and say "wow, they must know what they are doing".

This is the intelligence level behind the management.

The response posted is saying: Graybar is bigger, richer, and untouchable. Mind your own business; don’t question our decisions, our business ethics, or our mistreatment of customers or employees. Hopefully ‘Lister’ you have a good attorney working for you.

In reference to the former "material handler" who was laid off of whom I spoke in the previous post: not only was he constantly told that his job position was secure, he had EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE RATINGS IN HIS REVIEW!!!! So, if his job was not eliminated and his performance was excellent, WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR HIS TERMINATION????

Not only that, why is this person, who hasn't been able to perform to standard in two previous positions STILL THERE????????!!!!!!!!

By the by, if our "person who would like to disagree" is interested, in 2005, FORTUNE had another well known company make one of it's wonderful lists. Who was voted "Most Innovative ompany in America" that year?

ENRON !

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.