The culture has shifted from "Fighting with Tools" to "Fighting with This Tool." Leadership has become incredibly top-heavy, making decisions that affect daily operations without consulting the people actually doing the work.
Forced "Innovation" & Technical Debt: Management is obsessed with in-house apps that are pushed out prematurely. These tools are often half-baked and create double work, yet adoption is forced so leadership can brag about "usage metrics." Meanwhile, the core ERP system is stuck in the mid-2000s (approx. 2005/2006). The App team and ERP team are in a constant blame-game, leaving bugs unfixed for months while OTD (On-Time Delivery) suffers.
The "Yes-Person" Promotion Cycle: Promotions are increasingly based on likability and compliance rather than skill or merit. This has created a layer of management that simply repeats directives they don't understand. If you ask "why" or offer a data-backed alternative, you are viewed as "not a team player," and management will look for reasons to push you out.
Operational Stagnation: Great ideas from sales reps and plant employees are routinely shut down by people well-removed from the day-to-day. The company has become so top-heavy that the "boots on the ground" no longer have a voice.
Resource Mismanagement: The introduction of "Fulfillment Reps" was a good concept, but it was executed by gutting the sales team or removing the best reps from the field. Salespeople are now bogged down in admin work instead of selling, leading to burnout and high turnover.
Pay & Workload: The turnover rate is high because the pay does not reflect the increased workload caused by inefficient tools and "metric-padding" at the plant level to mask late deliveries.
