Racism and discrimination is baked into the institution. Before McKinstry, I never made a single complaint to HR at any previous employer. Not once were any of my complaints ever resolved nor did I see any visible changes. HR prefers you sweep it under the rug and stop talking about it. I would just have to avoid working with certain team members because they made me so uncomfortable. They did nothing to protect me from colleagues I felt unsafe around. I know many other colleagues who just stopped going to HR because HR would not do anything to upset the status quo.
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts are focused on donating money to philanthropic causes or creating feel-good stories/initiatives that can be used for marketing/recruiting purposes but don't create any actual change within the company.
- Note, employees of color leave McKinstry at a higher rate than other demographics. This is not my opinion but something I heard in a DEI meeting. At one point, I saw multiple employees in my department leave within a couple months of each other - all people of color.
- Men frequently promoted over more competent women. It's all about who you know and especially who you're related to. Nepotism runs deep at this company.
- Employee resource groups were created just last year, but have seen a huge turnover in leadership. The groups for LGBTQIA+, women, and employees of color have all seen leaders or founders leave McKinstry. In the past year, half the leadership team for the employee of colors group has already left the company.
- I've seen a lot of more diverse candidates be hired, but unfortunately I've also seen many leave in under a year because of the culture
- The CEO occasionally says some good stuff about DEI, but follow through doesn't actually happen. For example, the CEO might say that he/the company supports racial justice and equity, but this makes no difference when your manager and many in your department think it's all a joke
Limited opportunities for growth and promotions.
- Saw several people hired without job descriptions. This allowed them to be purposefully vague in growth opportunities.
- Depending on your department, there might be no onboarding
- The same leaders/managers just keep get promoted and reshuffled around even if they have multiple complaints against them
- The way I've seen most people get a raise/promotion in my department was if they presented a competing job offer
- Raises are generally 3% a year which is lower than inflation, so essentially you just make less each year
