CoBank reviews

Leadership in the technology group is awful. They are so invested in their new framework that they don't take the time to understand how to make things better for the people doing the actual work. The leadership team is happy to roll through meetings and berate people into 'unblocking' work. Senior leaders regularly participate in stand ups which just leads to your work being micromanaged. There is a vague requirement for hybrid work but that doesn't apply to the leadership team. A large percentage of them are remote. That may be team-dependent but it is evident that leadership isn't on the same team as the individual contributors. The office environment is a joke. The 5th floor was 'renovated' recently. There are no assigned work spaces so you don't have any space to yourself because desks are on a first come, first served basis. The monitors and other equipment isn't universal so you may end up with substandard equipment if you get a bad desk. People take virtual meetings in the open area all the time so the space is particularly loud most of the day. They have also taken to painting tone-deaf quotes on the walls. Communication is another con. Be ready to get reprimanded for not following the new policy that was rolled out in a chat you were not part of. Senior leadership announced a new policy at an in-person event. That's the only communication. If you are a remote employee or weren't in the room when the policy was announced, you would never know about it. The devotion to a scaled agile framework is probably the biggest drawback to working here. The framework is king and will be the thing that delivers all the solutions. That attitude is pervasive and means that you aren't treated like a person with knowledge or experience who can bring new ideas and perspectives to what CoBank is trying to do. Instead, you will end up as a cog in the SAFe machine, only as good as the last thing you delivered.

CoBank is the kind of company that will use you and throw you away. I was a part of recent layoffs but in all honesty, I’m glad I was laid off. I was very close to a mental breakdown. There is zero work life balance. I was aware of many employees (including myself) who were working hours well into the night most days. The executives are a bunch of self-important people who don’t care about their employees, just when they can buy a new car or another vacation house. The CEO spent over $300,000 on an art piece in the lobby, but many people can’t afford the cost of living in Colorado. The amount of money spent on nonsense is ridiculous. They took away free soda from the employees but the CEO regularly flies on private jets with his wife and dog. Horrible place to work if you value yourself as a human being. Processes are difficult, it is impossible to keep things moving when you have to go through multiple channels for simple things. Can barely get IT to deal with simple issues, half the time you have to figure out how to fix things on your own.