Despite the amount of talent that occupies the building, AB seemed to make avoidable errors that cost them in time, money and talent. The pains of working there, mainly instability in leadership, constant shifting of priorities, sense of everything being urgent—is all self-induced. The company has seen so much change over the years it almost does not know how to operate without it and the pressure it brings. It’s almost as if you’re not adding value unless you’re changing whatever process the previous person put in place to put your own stamp and prove your worth. When you combine that with the crazy amount of personnel changes made it just perpetuates chaos. I know for me, transitioning to a new company that had considerably less “churn” was difficult—I did not know what to do without 4,373 fires daily to put out. If leaders took a breath (or a sabbatical!) they could step away giving themselves clarity of the bigger picture, perhaps learning new ways to handle urgent things and that some fires are OK to let burn…
One of the core principles is to “never be satisfied.” Personally, this kept me always raising the bar but for some, especially those in the top leadership positions, morphed into “always dissatisfied.” This mentality can be poisonous for individuals and teams, as nothing ever seems to be good enough or recognized. Leaders need to make more effort to show appreciation and support and to also remove those who create poor work environments, despite whatever results they bring. Moving away from an “ends justifies the means” culture could help.
Cons:
- While I rarely experienced this, I did witness unprofessional behavior from leaders in the way they spoke to/about employees
-workload: it was high; sometimes it felt worthwhile and other times it was overwhelming. Vacations were never really vacations; work/life balance is tough, particularly for parents.
-working in a support function, I was made to feel like a “drag” on the P&L; cost control or cutting was always topic #1 which wears on your after a while
-little to no real training given when entering/changing jobs. Very self-directed which works for some but not all.
