What's the company culture at Cintas?

Every business has it's own style. What is the office environment and culture like at Cintas?

Are people dressed in business casual, jeans and t-shirts, or full-on suits? Do folks get together for Friday happy hours and friendly get-togethers?

What is a typical day in the life of an employee at Cintas?

Cintas is very strict about their professional appearance. It is similiar to the military in the fact that you must be "in uniform" while at work. The only choices are a Cintas provided uniform or suit and tie for some management/office/sales personnel.

During my sales interview I was told that the dress code is pretty much business dress - nylons at all times for ladies in skirts, no open toe shoes, no dressy capri pants, no sleeveless tops unless worn under a suit jacket. Suits if the client is around of course.

Makes sense since being fashion-forward is a part of what they represent, but it is a little different from my current employer.

Host said: Every business has it's own style. What is the office environment and culture like at Cintas?

Are people dressed in business casual, jeans and t-shirts, or full-on suits? Do folks get together for Friday happy hours and friendly get-togethers?

What is a typical day in the life of an employee at Cintas?

I worked at Cintas, and the corporate culture is very strong. At the time I hated it, but in retrospect now that I am working for a company that has no true vision, or corporate identity, I suppose it was not so bad.

It was however a very stiff environment, and the dresscode was very strict. Casual Friday's never happened, because they were too concerned with maintaining a professional appearance although the office people rarely come in contact with anyone. It is true that nylons must be worn, and I hated nylons, no open-toe shoes or sleeveless shirts, that is all true. I would push the envelope and sometimes show up with my Doc Martens because I got sick of wearing high heels. For men, it is the same dressy shoes, pants, shirts and ties. Whoever works for this company will go through thorough interviewing, only because they actually care who they bring aboard, and do not want high turn-over rates. I have to say it is one the admirable qualities. I would not go back to Cintas, but definitely recommend them as an employer.

Something you wouldn't envy.

The culture of this company is winner takes all...Management plays favorites here. They like employees who don't take their job too seriously. They like employees who flatter them. They don't like employees who come to work every day to do their job. Yes, I was surprised as well. If you work there, you will notice that the employees that have been around the longest are the troublemakers, gossipers, and all other sorts of bad apples. My supervisor was a bad apple, who caused over five people to leave the company. This is ONE BAD PLACE. I have to admit though, I liked the M-F schedule...

I am a former CINTAS employee:

CINTAS started out wanting to improve their business using the Six-Sigma philosophy with a focus on speed and quality. What they created in the end is a culture of micro-managers that are hyper-fixated on WHO to blame for any given failure. Their management is a “Dog-Eat-Dog” hodge-podge of micromanagers scurrying about looking for victims. Funny that in this CINTAS culture, you don’t have to have any actual skills to be a “good” manager: You just have to follow the predefined work flows and look for victims along the way to offer up as proof of your managing prowess. It is very sad.

CINTAS Culture is very simply a Micromanaging Blame-Game in which only the loyalist survive. It is a gross perversion of the Six-Sigma philosophy: Attack the weak to make the company stronger.

You can survive as a manager by getting in with a pack of hunters, otherwise you are just prey. As a non-managing employee, watch your back and be vigilant. You will not advance without attacking your co-workers.
Pay is good but the dog-eat-dog environment creates a lot of stress at all levels within the company.
The interview process is stringent to say the least. They are looking for team players who will keep this culture alive.

I left because I am better than this.

Typical Day?
Get to work on time - MAKE SURE YOU STOP AT THE BULLETIN BOARD and look for updates to any flow. You do not want to be caught unaware in that environment.

Do your job and keep track of all your work - someone will eventually accuse you of not doing your job or of missing something. Its the culture.

Wear a Dress Shirt and Tie every day - Not too flashy though: Plain white or blue with a dark tie - YOU DO NOT WANT TO LOOK BETTER THAN YOUR BOSS. (managers are petty and will not tolerate being "shown-up")