I joined the Atlas Team to help be a part of creating and guiding a Pathfinding company that I can be proud of
Pros
Atlas has been an incredible place to work. The team I work with are amazing and very friendly/accepting. I feel nothing but support and the shared desire to do great work and help each other succeed and that resonates throughout the company as a whole. I've been part of Atlas since the very beginning, back when we were still sharing space with our first JV Partner's headquarters in Downtown Phoenix. I was compelled to join by the vision shared and held by the VP of IT and the original founders of the company. That vision, that mission, hasn't dulled in the nearly five years I've been with the company. Being a part of the IT Team from the start, I've had the opportunity to guide its growth and focus on building the team around discovering and implementing the ideals of what a great IT Department looks like and helping it take shape. In the past I've worked for companies and IT Departments where you were disconnected from the choices that affect how the department works or will grow and there aren't forums or methods to suggest changes or improvements. In many cases where those methods exist, any suggestions raised are either ignored or are summarily rejected. At Atlas, we are an IT TEAM. Regardless of what tier of the team you're in, your voice and your opinion matters. There are forums to openly discuss your ideas and we strongly urge all team members to voice their ideas and have discussions, which more often than not, leads to action in some way. I've always had an open forum and a transparent line of communication with my boss and with the priorities of both the department and the company at large. The leadership of the company holds routine town halls and utilizes electronic mediums to share the status of the company mission, the current priorities and successes, and any opportunities to improve or grow where we may be lacking. I've never been worried about the future of my department or the company in general. I've certainly never been bored! As with any growing company, there's always work to do and opportunities for new experience and growth as an IT Professional in the Healthcare industry. I am consistently introduced to new problems and challenges that I get to engineer solutions to. I get to be a part of that process instead of just given a task to complete with rigid rules and orders. I've been a pathfinder in many ways with Atlas and am incredibly happy with the process and interaction between myself, my leadership and members of other departments involved. When COVID began, I became a primarily work-from-home employee and helped Atlas build out what that would look like for myself and other staff and we're still continuing to evolve that process as we grow. We have accommodated staff working remotely from many different states with success; owing to our technology package and the needs of the positions able to work remotely. I've also had nothing but positive experiences with our HR team, our company and department leadership in my process of coming out as a member of the LGB(T)Q+ Community and helping develop the Processes and experience that an employee goes through in that journey. Atlas and the IT Team has a line of open communication with each other and Leadership to discuss any concerns or issues without fear of retribution or negative response. We take this very seriously and strive to maintain an accepting and friendly but professional atmosphere within the department and the company. I've never had a problem through my journey with any other employee or vendor; in the rare case I was mis-gendered or mis-named, I was able to quickly correct the issue without any stress or incident. I've never had to fight for my position, my reimbursement, and I've received what I would consider fair growth in my compensation over the years as I've stayed with Atlas. I've never had a problem taking Sick time, PTO, or the occasional emergency short day or day off; and I do my part to give as much advance notice as possible. I've never had a problem with Work-Life balance either. I made it clear when I started that this was important to me and I wouldn't work myself to the bone. I will step up and help when there's an emergency, I will put in the extra time when I think its necessary to finish a project or meet a deadline but its not expected of me to work 80 hour weeks and lay it all on the line for the company. My boss actually goes out of his way to ensure we keep a good work life balance and goes to bat for us to ensure that balance is maintained. I've never had a boss or a company that has made that a priority. Because of that I have no problem stepping forward when extra help is needed, because I get to make that choice. I can't say enough positive things as many of my suggestions I've submitted over the years, for improvements in communication and transparency, and improving the culture of the company have been at the very least listened to. Whether my influence directly correlated to the changes happening, I'm not too concerned with, the end result is that Atlas Listens and pivots and has the capacity and flexibility to correct and move forward. Thats the only way Atlas will be able to continue being the guiding force for Surgery Center management now and into the future!
Cons
No Company is perfect, they all have challenges, and the real issue is whether the company can address those challenges. Many of the concerns or issues I've had with Atlas, I've voiced them either publicly in townhall meetings, through the annual suggestion process, or as they come up throughout the year to my boss. The Summary of my Cons are: 1. Concerning growth vs preparing for that growth 2. Implementing Processes/Products that have a high investment of time and resources, just to pivot away shortly after to something else 3. Concern with seeing drift beginning in departmental cooperation and priorities. At the time I'm creating this review, I'd say the biggest Cons of Atlas are that it is a relatively new company and that you have to be prepared to do the work to help create policies and procedures where there may be none. Being a new company, it also takes a direction on something and then might change that direction within a year or less, and that can be frustrating as an employee when you're doing good work on something just to have to see the result set aside. While thats also a part of every company to a degree, it feels pronounced at Atlas because it is a new-ish company and is responding/pivoting to things based on demands. There is currently some difficulty in getting each department on the same page with the Mission, Vision, and Values and what work needs to be done as a whole to accomplish that mission. Atlas has to make sure that it doesn't become a collection of separate departments with conflicting priorities and goals and I think we're missing a voice or a team that will help focus things and get us all on the same page. Compounding that is the rate we're growing. Growth is great in that we have opportunities for more income and with that more resources to improve the company but I'm concerned that we could grow too quickly without well establishing the core of the company needed to support that growth. I've experienced explosive growth at previous companies that prioritized bringing on new locations and new business opportunities over developing those core systems/policies/procedures that can grow and expand with the company.
