Were Populus Group able to execute on it's vision for company culture, I would not be writing this. Heck, had you asked me 2 months ago, I would have said that in 2 months time I'd be writing a PG blog about how great PG is. I seriously bought into the philosophy; I still do.
Well, here I am on Glassdoor instead. So what is the problem?...
Offering sub market-value compensation and benefits, Populus Group has a tough time filling internal job requisitions. Those who do accept positions experience a whirlwind of personal growth... through being forced to constantly deal with a sense of drowning. Some say Populus Group runs lean - what I experienced was "skin and bones". I watched half a dozen of "the good ones" leave the company and see an immidiate raise, a more reasonable workload, and a generally less stressful life.
Truth is, I did not want to leave Populus Group...but the reality of it was that leaving was the logical decision to make.
Populus Group will not be able to live up to it's promises while the above is true. I wanted to rate "Senior Management" higher because I agree with the company philosophy, but the executive team's seemingly willful ignorance to the company's largest problem was abhorrent.
I would have thought the whole experience much better if I wasn't consistently promised that PG was a great place to work. I spent most of my time at Populus Group burning both sides of the candle; savoring the idea that when we 'caught up', we would have the ability to create and work in a cultural utopia. The emphasis on personal development was crowded out by the requirement to get too much work done in too little time. As weeks and months passed, I realized that 'catching up' was simply not on the agenda.
