Bro Culture - Underpaid - Distribution Manager Vermont Information Processing Employee Review

Thank you for your feedback. I would like to share the following response from a fellow employee – I would like to start by emphasizing that VIP is 100% employee owned. There is no “us and them”, we are “them”, we are employee owners. Our president has been a part of our company for 31 years and many of the employees who worked here in the early years (the 80’s & 90’s) stayed until retirement or are still going strong. Longevity is a cornerstone of our culture here at VIP and we aim to find those who will be with us for the long haul. Pros We feel it’s important to enrich our day with activities that give us a break from our hard work. We have a full basketball court, a fitness center on site with men's & women’s locker rooms and showers, and a street hockey rink, where we enjoy games of street hockey, soccer and occasionally dodgeball. All of this is for anyone at VIP to use, no matter how long they’ve worked here, or how good they are at a particular sport. With over 300 employees in the building, these activities are a great way to make friends and meet people who you wouldn’t normally cross paths with in the office. Work is work. Whether you’re a developer, data analyst, a distributor manager or a software implementer, everyone can use a break. To stop and play a game, do yoga, go for a walk, play chess with co-workers, knit, read a book or have lunch with your child in our on-site day-care, it changes the day entirely. We spend 40+ hours at work each week so we want to make that time enjoyable. Do our activities get pretty competitive at times? They sure do! But neither the president, nor anyone else, would take something that happens on the court and use that against a person professionally. That is simply not true. We value hardworking and driven employees, period. Cons To say that we have a loose structure is a somewhat accurate statement. As employee owners, we don’t want a lot of micro management. We seek smart, independent, hardworking and resourceful individuals. If you require a lot of managing to stay focused, if you’re not able to learn how to prioritize your work or if you simply have trouble coming to work on time, then you’re probably not going to last long at VIP. However, if you thrive with support and training, have the ability to work and share with your peers, and enjoy the independence of self-direction, you’ll love it here. Because we are employee owners, there is a collective sigh when a new employee learns the ropes and is off and running. We know we have hired well, and we have a new long-term contributor to help us grow our business. It’s good to hear that our newer employees are nice since we’ve grown significantly in the past several years and there are now a greater number of “newer” people than “older”. I find the people who have been here 15+ years are very nice as well. It’s true, we do not offer the opportunity to work from home much. We want people to come in, be close to their teammates and share in the culture. That said – if you have a sick child, a doctor’s appointment or a family member that needs your attention, we certainly accommodate. We want to take care of ourselves as well as one another. VIP offers many opportunities for growth. Depending on your interest and abilities, you could be in an entry-level position for 1 to 2 years. We have a few entry-level departments that teach the fundamentals of our industry and our software platform. These roles are the building blocks that allow a person to advance to other positions, so they are certainly not regarded as replaceable, but rather key to success for our growing company. The advice to management: It is a sound piece of advice to treat everyone with respect, and one that we follow. I’ll finish by saying that it’s not always easy to find hardworking, self-motivated, grounded people. But once we have them, we cherish them. “We” the collective group of employee owners, respect our peers, advance them whenever possible and do our best with everyone’s help to create a great work environment for all. I’m off to the kitchen now… today is pie day, yum.