Counterproductively, needlessly stressful environment
Pros
If you live in Pelham it's easy to get to ! There is not a bureaucracy in place, at least - we changed directions and made things happen on the drop of a dime. Definitely no sitting around waiting for answers!
Cons
I hope this doesnt run afoul of the community guidelines but it is the truth and there is no other way to put it: Senior management is routinely verbally abusive to some employees. Language goes beyond politically incorrect to the stuff of lawsuits - a polite way to put this would be to say that race, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, etc., came up in conversations or in front of groups when they were not germaine to the discussion. Other people have alluded to this lack of tact and professionalism - I hope you will let this commentary stand as people should be aware of it going in (there were some that were not aware of it and quit in a matter of days or weeks while i was there). Roles are not clearly defined - i had no job description and spent a lot of my time "putting out fires" rather than planning to do something and then doing it. There is no reason it has to be such a stressful environment to make children's books. Appraisals were infrequent. There were many instances when someone got a job because of friends or family. Sometimes that works out fine but sometimes it doesn't ... and it builds resentment in people who were hired solely for their ability, when they had to report to someone who didn't know as much but had a good "connection".
