Agree with darkarcher, it's a joke.
The only training we receive is on the safety hub which is all geared at covering their backside when things go wrong.

The training is farcical ! The department have been cut back to virtually nothing. The courses have been compressed so much that you could only call them a familerisation and that's being generous. If anything did happen Briggs wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court !

Funnily enough briggs had the local branch network in place, wooden dollars syndrome virtually eliminated, and a computer system bordering on efficient when they took barloworld over. So arrogant that they did away with all you are asking for....and what customers want. Oh well never mind. Any company could lead the pack but at present a mountain to climb. Is their much Engineer training going on???

One minute a cleaner at Asda, the next a senior controller with no idea about the job, no idea what a good engineer is, no idea how to deal with a customer, but as I said before, what do we know.

Well said, need do drop this obsession thinking Cannock is the centre of the universe and invest in some strategically placed branches to provide the regional customers with what they want. Bring down the divisions within, all looking out for their own departments charging each other for this and that wooden dollars!

I think Briggs have the potential to be a market leader, but their biggest stumbling block is the big white elephant called Cannock, they will never retain customers aslong as customers have to deal with those inexperienced morons they employ there...... listen to your customers, they want regional depots, and control, they don't want to deal with so called senior controllers who couldn't organise a weekly shopping list, but hey what do we know, I suppose it all looks good on a spread sheet.

The really worrying bit in all this is the previous comment "What suits them and not the customers they serve". The basis for this comment and others like it, has been going on for years which is a possible explanation for low customer retention. Not listening to those nearest the customer AND taking notice AND acting accordingly is another basic error. As the ex md said "there are no fiefdoms in briggs", sorry don't know where he was looking but there always were and still are.

To be honest, not good or bad to work for. Plenty of room for improvement. I agree with Phil, it's extremely frustrating and you end up asking yourself why the **** am I bothering. It would be nice one day for the suites to listen to the people who know, and to actually take it on board.

To be fair if your willing just to get on with it and don't worry about the politics,yes they are. But the Cannock brigade can be so frustrating every one thinks they know what's best but inevitably it's what suites them not the customer they serve.

Is Briggs a good company to work for then?

Shuffle the same pack, you keep coming up with the same jokers....realistically they will have to come from outside the industry, just hope the maroon injection does not stifle innovative (from briggs point of view) thought and action.

Heard through the gape vine they are advertising some senior positions outside the business, not sure what these are. But something wrong if it's true and they can't find anyone within the workforce with correct skills, speaks volumes.

Not heard anything yet, but then again we're all treated like mushrooms.

Anyone heard a rumour about a shake up in the boardroom? Maybe some bad news coming...

Aaaah back to "all on board", just remember, the galley slaves were all on board and had some input and involvement, not volountary admitted but input and involvement none the less. Big head count reductions that are used to mitigate the cost of new technology or processes are a way of life these days, but should only be carried out once the new process or technology is fully functional. It is foolhardy to do it sooner in case the "improvements" do not work, and mess needs clearing up. Continual change killed off the Indian Motorcycle company, (a technically superior machine in the day), Harley Davidson rarely changed things, who is a global success story now?? Maybe you need a Bighead Count Reduction rather than a Big Head Count Reduction!

Totally agree jump lead. Headless chicken comes to mind. As for"all on board"to be on board you have to have some input and involvement ?

Technology development is expected these days in life and smart phone apps growing quickly. The main problem is not engineers, its that there is too much constant change at Briggs to see any project through. just recently went through a cost cutting exercise, big headcount reduction, and lost some really good experienced and long serving people and totally kept the wrong ones in my opinion.
I don't know the agenda but so far I cannot make sense of all the changes and how it will actually work.
My thoughts, Iceberg dead ahead!

It's one future not the future. For sure the small number of victories will be shouted about at the expense of a deafening silence of a much larger volume of failures and indifferences. SS you have missed the point that you are dealing with individuals, both customers and engineers are not machines, this is not George Orwell's "1984"

That may well be true in the past years but things are definitely changing with technology and this is only going to grow more progressively with Briggs as there way is to keep growth and improvement in the business , is to buying it and development it and you all have to be on-board that's the future now.

To be a good manager requires practice, skill and patience. To be a great leader requires humility.
All technology has the same goal, to make life better for mankind, not all men use technology for the benefit of all and so it has always been.