Not A Company I Could Recommend - Anonymous employee AvalonBay Communities Employee Review

I was very excited when Avalon took over our company because it was stated over and over that they would be very similar. I was also excited to have Sundays off and be a part of a company that I could grow in. Fast forward a couple years later and the only word that comes to mind is disappointment. Prior to Avalon, I had a clear idea of my "road map to success" and upper management was amazing. I could call her for anything and she genuinely cared about me not just as an employee but as a person. Upper management here left something to be desired to say the least. I consider myself a team player and love to do what is needed to reach a goal but I felt unmotivated at this company. Having quarterly meetings was simply a ra-ra show and the things that mattered were pushed behind. Things as simple as employees having a clear road map toward moving up in the company were talked about but never executed during my time there. I watched exceptional employees question their worth because individuals in upper management didn't really see the importance of knowing their employees in their region. I found myself seeing Avalonbay more and more like a job instead of a career and I knew if I wanted to grow in the way that I wanted, I would need to look elsewhere. The only thing that kept me there were my managers at my communities and the individuals I worked with on a daily basis. My experience with them was phenomenal and If I were to base my review off of them, it would be a different story. I also think a big con is the lack of compassionate for the residents that the staff deals with on a daily basis. Avalon is like any other big company and it is all about the bottom line. Resident retention was not that important even though it made more sense to keep someone in their apartment as opposed to paying the money to turn it or risking an apartment remaining vacant for months. One of the best things I experienced was forming great relationships with individuals and one of the worst was having to watch people leave a community they called home (for as long as 20 years in some cases) because the numbers from a system didn't work in their favor. We had residents that were retired, living on a fixed income, and getting ridiculous increases. While I understand the business side, it is very different when you have to be the one being yelled out or watching someone cry because they can no longer make ends meet. Unfortunately, the list can go on of why I chose to move on and I would not personally recommend this company from my experiences .