Nokia

Working at HERE as a software engineer allows you to work with cutting-edge technology such as big data and cloud computing.

The Chicago office is just a block away from the Metra station.

The albatross of the handset division is finally gone.

• The company is moving more toward the "open office" plan, which is noisy and distracting. If you are an engineer who needs to be able to concentrate, good luck if you are seated next to somebody yelling into his phone during a conference call.

• Benefits and compensation have been deteriorating the last few years. Health insurance costs and deductibles have gotten worse. Raises barely outpace inflation. The 4-year vest for matching 401(k) is ridiculous.

• Employees are very "clique"-y. Russians hire Russians, Germans hire Germans, Finns hire Finns, and former game industry people hire game industry people. They then only socialize in those groups.

• The former game industry people are turning the culture into more of a "bro-grammer" culture. The level of unprofessionalism has been steadily rising over the past couple of years.

• Everything is way too political. Too many managers make their teams look good by bad-mouthing other teams.

• Unfortunately, information important to do your job isn't communicated but rather socialized. If you don't socialize with the right people, you miss out on important information.

• All of the various support departments (IT, etc.) are terrible. Corporate headquarters decided to centralize everything in Finland and then outsource it, which means there is zero accountability in these departments when things go wrong.

• The company doesn't seem to know how to recruit quality engineers. Candidates who come in for interviews are mediocre at best. At worst, they only got in the door because the headhunter shopping the candidate around fabricated a buzzword-laden resume. As a result, hiring managers give up and tend to just hire the first unobjectionable candidate they can find, resulting in more mediocre employees.

• The company doesn't seem interested in retaining quality employees. If benefits are going to get worse and you don't have the budget for competitive raises, at least you could throw some options around to senior or high-performing employees. I've never worked at a company that didn't give stock options until now. The attitude seems to be that the work should be its own reward. If I have no investment in the future of the company, why should I stay if a better offer comes along?

• The company prides itself on its "Finnish management style." I still have no idea what that means. The management style in Chicago seems like every other politics-driven place I've worked at.

Strive to be an employer of choice. This doesn't mean having the best foosball table, having a happy hour once a week, or having a cushy lounge area to hang out in.

Be candid in your communications with employees. Every quarter and every year is always portrayed as the best ever, until you look at the details (sales down YoY, etc.).

Boost benefits, compensation, etc., and you will be able to better recruit and retain employees.

Promote a culture of inclusion and excellence.

Reward those who do good work rather than those who can sell themselves the best. There are a lot of consistently good performers who seem to get ignored because either they or their managers don't promote them enough.