The dysfunction of executive/upper management eventually pushes out the talent. Top-down communication is abysmal. Project direction is sporadic at best and you can count on pouring yourself into initiatives only to have them either cancelled or mismanaged at launch due to lack of management experience for market-facing programs. EchoStar does not yet know what it wants to be when it grows up. Top and senior executives all come from DISH, follow old-school management styles of “need to know” basis and do not even communicate well with each other due to the extremely siloed reporting structure with different presidents giving different orders concerning projects that cross divisions. Middle management spends their time trying to figure it out and hoping for top-down direction that does not materialize.
EchoStar is not a high-performance company, so high-performing employees go above and beyond to make up for the dead-weight employees and managers, at same or usually lower salaries. High-performing employees are not usually recognized for these efforts, are not promoted, and EchoStar refuses to move or dismiss incompetent managers. Due to these facts, the salaries are some of the lowest in the industry. But if you want complacency and the ability to get by under the radar, unable to get fired or laid off unless you do something illegal that impacts the company, EchoStar is a mecca. If EchoStar were serious about being a global leader (as it claims), the board of directors would have mandated a management overhaul a long time ago. But the board has one major shareholder to please, and employee issues are not his top concern by a long shot. Balance sheet only.
