Ford

A love of the automotive industry.

Average pay, average benefits. High pressure, long hours, especially for above average performers.

It is very easy to become "just a cog in a wheel." Your career opportunities depend on you and support from lower and middle engineering management, which can be arbitrary. Doing a "good job" is not sufficient. Persons who are willing to work long hours are promoted even if they are not the best candidate.

The current shuffling of lower and middle-level engineering management means many of them are underqualified, or at least unexperienced, for their current job. These people revert to telling the bosses what they think they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.

Stop the churning of lower and middle-level management.

Open the feedback channels from lower-level employees, especially those with many years of experience.

Your current feedback system does not work, as these experienced people are not consulted before major decisions are made. Rather, they are simply told to carry out sub-optimal plans made by inexperienced middle managers who don't have enough self-confidence to invite dissenting opinions.