Although I aim to be fair in my feedback, when I started, the place was honestly complete chaos. There were tables, chairs, and who knows what else all over the lab. Things improved once the new building opened, but “chaotic” is still the word I’d use to describe how the business runs, from the bottom all the way up. That kind of chaos really bleeds into employees’ work, processes, training, and day-to-day lives.
I also feel that some decisions from higher-ups weren’t the most common-sense. For example, employees with multiple write-ups were sometimes allowed to stay — and even promoted — while others were let go. That felt backwards. Employees shouldn’t be kept on just because finding a replacement is difficult. If someone can’t do the job properly and is putting patient lives at risk, they should be treated the same as anyone else.
I noticed inconsistencies in how behavior was handled. Some employees with tenure and experience would openly threaten to quit and seemed to feel they had an upper hand because of it. They could treat managers rudely and get away with it, while newer, less-tenured employees were called out for being rude over much lesser things. This kind of hypocrisy from upper management was rampant and created a frustrating and unfair environment.
Some departments were also not cohesive at all. Many employees acted as if they were more important than their teammates, rarely reaching out to help others, and actively distancing themselves from newer employees. Some seemed to think that because they had been at the company longer than their managers, they themselves were the managers. They carried an air of self-importance and wanted to protect that status for themselves, which made it difficult to feel welcomed or supported and contributed to a divided, uncollaborative work environment. Calling others out on their mistakes in front of everyone to come across as the "heroes" was also a favorite of senior staff.
Management also struggled to properly support employees. Guidance, mentorship, and knowledge sharing were often lacking, leaving employees to figure things out on their own. When problems arose, employees were not given support on how to improve or avoid mistakes, which often set them up for future failure.
