Pros
I have been an employee at stone source for 16 years. It has been a very rewarding and enriching experience learning every day about a dynamic product offering, and developing relationships with colleagues, clients, and vendors that will last a lifetime. Anybody reading these reviews should take stock of the fact that these sites offer a forum for disgruntled employees to air their grievances. This post is not being written to denounce their experiences, but rather to offer a different perspective from previous posts. The company that claims to be perfect is the definition of the closed-minded company, and Stone Source is both imperfect and open minded, and this is part of what makes it special. Stone Source is bold in its product choices and tests strategies in the market like any other learning organization. Sometimes the products or strategies fail, but most often they succeed. Stone Source fosters the development of employees and is a best in class sales and service organization in our industry. This is not only my opinion but the opinion of most in the industry, from clients to perspective job applicants, competition and vendors. The Stone Source culture can best be described as a sales meritocracy, and that does make some people uncomfortable as they must build their own businesses and are judged on the results, but it is the best kind of environment for motivated and dedicated sales professionals. Of our 45 outside sales representatives currently, over 10 have been promoted from other roles in the organization. Of our 6 procurement specialists, 4 have been promoted from other roles in the organization. Of our 4 warehouse managers, 3 have been promoted from other roles inside of the organization. Of our executive team of 12 people, 4 have been promoted from other roles in the organization. In a dynamic organization such as ours, the path for growth is not always very clearly defined and spelled out in advance, but resourceful and driven people have shown that upward mobility within the organization is not only possible, but critical to our success and these statistics bear that out. Contrary to some of the experiences being reported on this site, statistically speaking, turnover at stone source is very low compared with the rest of the industry, and for many industries in general. Off the top of my head, there are more than 20 people with over 15 years inside the company out of roughly 150. There are over 40 with over 10 years inside the company, and many more building toward a long career at Stone Source that I’m confident will come to fruition. This is evident each time we add a new member to the team, they are always impressed with the tenure of the people they meet around the organization. The company is five times larger than it was when I joined, which is solid evidence that the model works over time as we continue our geographical expansion and market penetration. I am proud of the accomplishments of the of the employees and the company within the industry, but I know that not everyone will have the same experience as I have had due to myriad factors too numerous to list here. The feedback we are receiving on the site is important for us to hear and consider, but it is also important to understand that there are not only two sides to every story, but infinite sides, and dissenting narratives are inevitable, but most people I’ve come into contact with during my time at Stone Source hold the company, its employees, its accomplishments, and its potential in very high regard. That said, we are always looking for ways to improve, and that is what a best in class organization does.
Kontras
See the post above. Sometimes one person's pro is another person's con and vice versa.
