You gotta play the game - Employee C Space Employee Review

Thank you for the feedback on C Space, what we’re doing well and where we have room to improve. You clearly took the time to write something thoughtful and detailed, and given you are a current employee it is based on your experience. The positives you note are ones we celebrate and take great pride in: thank you. They span the caliber of our people, how we’re innovating our strategy and business model, our incredible list of clients and even our amazing technology group that has enabled us to work anytime anywhere. I would add our vibrant culture and values which guide our day to day behaviors and how we treat each other. The negatives are disheartening to read of course and I’m truly sorry you believe advancement and opportunity lies with who you know, luck or playing a game. Nothing could be farther from the people goals we have or the strides we believe we have made in clarifying our communication strategy and tools, like the Spot. I can’t underscore this enough -- if these are the experiences you’re having it is vital that you speak up to a trusted person, ideally your reporting manager or one of us on the People Team. I know you believe we have tried to clarify things and that too much happens behind the scenes. The only thing I can say there is that we try to plan how each year will go in advance – how many cycles of promotions to hold (based on our current growth and past experiences), how to provide merit cycles that align with “rules” that come from our parent company, and how to provide flexibility so that an urgent business and yes sometimes organizational change-related promotion can occur. And then things like COVID happen, or our revenue forecasts must be scaled back, and we need to reevaluate how much discretionary investment we can make. All of these things are part of running a successful business overall, which happily, overall, we are. Your comments about psychological safety are a problem, and against our values of “telling it like it is” and “open up and listen.” Phil or I would truly welcome a private chat on how you are experiencing this so we can do better, or I'd encourage you to reach out to one of the ALT members you feel safe discussing issues with. It’s true that for every complaint there should be a solution, and often solutions come from those that are closest to the issue. But that shouldn’t affect your or anyone’s day to day experience and make you feel this discouraged. As for the other areas you feel are issues, I won’t go line by line, but would like to assure you that we are aware of and working on them across various channels. A professional services company typically struggles to staff optimally, and pricing our work as the market shifts and competitors mimic our offering, certainly these will always be works in progress. And you’re right, being part of a holding company is a balance of many pros, and some cons. Recognizing all our people regardless of client account or role, is a priority for sure. In summary, I don’t think we view anyone’s career here as a game to be played. Every organization has work to do, and ours is no exception—but I am hoping you will find that some of these issues can and are moving in a positive direction. In my experience, those that speak up and work constructively to improve things, are rewarded in spades. Don’t forget that “do what scares you” is one of our values too, and we know change can feel scary – which is why it is so important that we work together to overcome our fears and make C Space realize its endless potential. Thank you for all your hard work for us.