The biggest challenge that I see at the company is the lack of support for professional growth. When I was first hired, I remember being provided with a document which listed all the perks that this company offered. “Results only work environment, medical benefits, work and professional training” to name a few. I was enthusiastic, ambitious, and felt excited at the prospect of actually working with a company that was fair to people in exchange for devoting periods of their life to assist the company in making profits. I was reminded constantly from friends in other well-known companies of how jaded people can become after putting in so much effort into their work just to realize that the efforts didn’t pay off, and that promises were not kept. I was convinced that this company was different and adopted a new way of living, of conducting business, of managing people.
After working here for a short period, I began to see the true disconnect between those promises that were made and the behaviors of those actually managing the business. I witnessed senior level executives whispering negative remarks about other executives, witnessed executives take “walks” while they strategically discussed hiring and firing decisions. It was truly reminiscent of the TV show “Survivor” when people on the island formed “Alliances” to win the game. I was invited to meetings with executives to join in on the Alliances and encouraged to share negative feelings about my colleagues. I listened to them make negative remarks about the very people they shared lunch with during the day. I didn’t like any of it and felt that it was unprofessional and created distrust. I came to the realization that these behaviors are simply a byproduct of a culture that has developed long before I arrived, and due to fact that not many opportunities exist in the company for professional advancement enough to prevent people from being forced to create strategic alliances in the workplace. The company asks its staff to make a promise by writing down a promise on a “Promise Card” and asks it staff to place this on the company wall for everyone to see during the year. After the year ends, they reward the staff that kept those promises. Its titled “ A promise made is a promise kept”. Unfortunately, since the company does not deliver on its promises to its staff, it doesn’t deserve the reward of being highly rated.
