Cobham Reviews

3.3

55% would recommend to a friend

(765 total reviews)
avatar

David Lockwood

52% approve of CEO

40% positive business outlook

Cobham has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 765 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Cobham employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Aerospace and defence industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

765 reviews
1.0
21 Dec 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very difficult to list any real pros other than the people. Not the upper management but the shop floor and office staff who continue to produce. It has a bit of the blitz mentally, all in it together type affair!

Cons

The upper management in nearly all cases are borderline sociopaths and woefully bad both technically and personally. There is a real seam of arrogance that runs through the business in thinking they have the monopoly and are the best at what they do. It would really only take a disruptor to enter the AAR market and Cobham are done. Social pastoral care is non existent, many team members are ‘forced’ to work longer hours for no extra pay. This gets to the point where many simply leave. Look at Cobhams abysmal staff turn over and you’ll see it in black and white. There is no possibility of progression unless your face fits (something particularly prevalent here). Training is non existent with no investment in people. No one is pushed to succeed merely slotted into a role and left. Far far too many programme managers, to the point of out numbering engineers in many cases. Avoid this place like the plague.

2.0
13 Jun 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Prior to the recent acquisition I reported directly to the COO (Shaw) who was very "hands off" in his style. I spoke to him a handful or times a year at most. He gave no direction to anyone, set no targets and completed appraisals online to avoid meaningful 1:1 feedback. This was great for stress free working. I wish I'd taken up a new hobby to fill the time. The restaurant was average but had a decent coffee machine installed. Helped keep people awake if you were unfortunate enough to be in the office all day. Wimborne (HQ) itself was very laid back. Office staff trickle in late and leave early. Despite the published policy, bonuses and share options were awarded without reference to individual performance.

Cons

Other than the (absent) COO, the CEO seemed out of touch with the Business Units. Very much stuck with the mentality of a "holding company" which left the BU's with a lot of autonomy with no real attempt was made to drive performance centrally. Lots of meetings with power point slide decks but no significant improvements or restructuring were proposed. Staff seemed weary of continual minor initiatives rolled out from Corporate so paid them lip service. Corporate Exec seemed to aspire to mediocrity. Then they'd fail. The business was plagued with infighting between BU and Corporate (HQ) teams. The COO had surprising little control over Operational strategy or performance which was led by the BU. Consequently, the BU's typically could ignore perceived interference from Corporate HQ, which was probably the right move. The annual budget process was a shambles and the approach was inconsistent between BUs. BU leaders were disinterested in any initiative they didn't directly control. They were overly protective of their existing strategy and missed opportunities to move forward through not sharing data or plans outside of their teams. The stock price flat-lined / declined during much of Lockwood's tenure which is reflective of the lack of drive within his team and the laid-back approach to planning and execution throughout the wider business

1.0
11 Jul 2017

IT

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible working hours, subsidised food

Cons

Over the last 6 months has become an awful environment. Massive cost cutting, attempting to sell off assets and businesses, pay frozen, bonus schemes adjusted to ensure they dont pay out, employees performance ratings downgraded to avoid pay increases. The IT department in particular is being run into the ground by a clueless management team focused only on cost cutting and securing their next role. Anyone with any talent or ambition under the age of 40 has left the business, so you are left with also-rans. Graduate scheme is only uselful for training graduates to go onto work for thames/bae/qinetiq etc. New CEO actually "blogs" about going on holidays in the same week of announcements on pay freezes. Do NOT join if you are under 40.

avatar
Cobham Response
8y
Thank you for reviewing our organisation. We are sorry to hear you would not recommend Cobham to potential candidates and understand fully that organisational change can be frustrating -for everyone involved. However, trying new approaches to doing business are critical for evolving and improving our organisation so that we can continue to design world-leading technology and deliver it to our customers. Please touch base with your local management team as your feedback and your perception of the workplace is important to us. All the best, Cobham
Viewing 1 - 3 of 765 Reviews

Glassdoor has 860 Cobham reviews submitted anonymously by Cobham employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Cobham is right for you.