Some departments have great managers, but other departments have incompetent leaders who smother their team's success. It's kind of an open secret who the terrible managers are, but the company tolerates them because they barely meet goals by taking shortcuts and pushing employees to the breaking point. These bad managers create barriers and obstacles to hinder employees' success and waste company time and money via power trips. As a result, company growth, success, and innovation is hindered. HR throws employees who raise legitimate concerns under the bus.
The company also doesn't value diversity and inclusion. Most people in management and leadership positions are men, and an overwhelming number of entry-level employees in operations are women and people of color. This is partly due to managers' unconscious biases factoring into who they perceive as competent and trustworthy. It's also due to the fact that company doesn't create any learning or development opportunities. Senior individual contributor roles and management roles frequently go to outside hires instead of promoting from within. At times, it felt like a trip back to the 1960s but without all the cool outfits and whisky.
Pay is ATROCIOUS-- wages haven't kept up with fair market rates over the past decade, so most entry-level roles are at least $10k to $15k underpaid. It's reprehensible that a company that preaches financial well-being and employee wellness makes it as difficult as possible for people to survive while living in Chicago. They make it impossible for anyone to stay past 1 to 2 years, because people leave as soon as they receive a better offer, not because they lack loyalty but because they have bills to pay. This feels especially unfair because sales loves to boast about how the company experiences double-digit growth year after year. Of course, it's easy to grow when you don't pay.
Turnover is a huge problem. It's become a game to keep a running tally of who has recently quit. When you tell people you're leaving, they just laugh, because everyone is leaving. Talented employees leave the first chance they get, which means that on some teams, dysfunctional personalities abound because the only people who stay are the people who can't get hired elsewhere.
Technology is incredibly outdated and antiquated. This makes any initiatives beyond day-to-day routine tasks a nightmare to execute. Workflows are a DISASTER and some systems feel like a house of cards.
And to top it all off, the CEO doesn't try to hide his disdain for employees. Some of the comments he's made in employee-facing forums have felt insanely out of touch. For example, when asked why more development and growth opportunities don't exist, explaining that the company may not have perks like ping pong tables, but at least he doesn't make us work 80 hours a week. Gee, thanks, at least we're not serfs.
