Good company but heavy politics
Pros
Experience likely varies drastically depending on who’s your direct supervisor. If you’re a high performer generally you’ll get good opportunities to work on interesting projects, but doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get promoted either. Benefits are decent with standards like medical, 401k. First year hires receive 3 weeks of PTO. It’s non-negotiable. You can find some smart talents in the company. Executive team are listening and goaled against employee feedback. They do take the feedback seriously, and try to implement corrective action. Again, depending on the supervisor certain teams do seem to have more fun and are supportive of one another. Generally attending conferences and training is accepted. Some supervisors may just require more justification than others.
Cons
There’s isn’t a formula for getting promoted other than play your politics right. Even consistently receiving the highest performance rating doesn’t guarantee a promotion, which defeats the purpose of the performance rating as a source of motivation for great work. Company is still figuring out the Starwood integration, and things can be a bit confusing as to who’s doing what. There’s strong mentality of protecting your turf, and vying for visibility and self promotion. The team I was on management seemed more interested in promoting themselves than for the well-being of the team or promoting those below if it conflicts with their self interest. Highly matrixed, consensus-driven organization. Getting projects done means you have to involve everyone and their mother, and for that reason meetings, meetings, meetings. Because of the large organization, you inevitably feel like a cog in a wheel.
