Utterly backward corporate culture. Every other person is a head or supervisor or lead, but no one ever seems to really know whats going on. The company big-wigs talk a good game about valuing people and quality above all, but in practice doing the job right is far less important than doing the job fast.
There are positions in the company that are effectively dead ends and the pay is mediocre, at best, especially considering the constant speeds at which management expects things to be completed. The emphasis on speed is so severe that you are far more likely to be reprimanded for working slowly than for making multiple mistakes with thousands of dollars in people's retirement funds.
Management is routinely more interested in being 'friendly' than leading, and such a heavy emphasis is placed on 'not rocking the boat' that those who suggest better methods are frequently let go. In my time at the company I can recall at least four such instances.
There is an unspoken rivalry between the Brainerd and Dresher offices. Brainerd associates routinely get preferential treatment, which is compounded by the fact that some of them have been with the company so long in the same positions that they are the only people at the company who know how to perform certain tasks. Despite Dresher being the headquarters, Brainerd effectively holds Dresher hostage on a number of issues regarding processing and procedures. Systems are antiquated and inefficient, often requiring large amounts of manual data entry. Additionally, processes involving other teams frequently require associates to enter the same information over and over and over again to ensure that other departments actually take the time to read the information being entered.
While associates are frequently asked their opinion on matters, it is a widely accepted fact that lower ranking employees should just shut up and keep their heads down.
