Cisco

Pretty good pay, bonus, and benefits.

Innovation is encouraged and supported at high levels, but not necessarily at lower levels.

There is strong enterprise support for most internal needs and flexibility when specific requirements come along.

It's difficult to run a company so large and varied.

Acquisition is the norm instead of internal innovation in many business units.

Management is focused on investors before employees.

The company frequently pushes the same practices and expectations on different business units inappropriately.

Internal quality suffers as management struggles to meet goals with limited resources, and mediocre engineering practices are accepted as the norm in some business units.

The company standardizes on one-size-fits-all solutions internally, but every solution seems to have an 18-month lifespan.

Benefits are comprehensive and good, but the employee is charged for most options.

You have the message right. The execution is lacking as far as employees are concerned. Don't be afraid to do the right thing for your people.