Extremely open floor plan with no privacy. They have en entire department devoted to routing inquiries of consultants to the proper departments, because they don't really expect consultants to do anything for themselves nor offer them the proper tools to get that information appropriately. Frequent changes in new procedures are distributed via email announcements without being documented elsewhere. In fact, they insist on not having a written record of some procedures/discussions to avoid liability.
The workplace culture consists of a veneer of friendliness over ruthlessness. Once management targets someone who isn't a "culture fit", they use all manner of tactics to push them out to avoid paying unemployment. One week you're doing great and at the top of the rankings, the next week you're under strict review and receiving harsh feedback for minor issues from other managers (at the instruction of your direct manager). All of this is meticulously documented, of course, in order to build a case for misconduct to deny unemployment.
One example, in particular, was that despite feedback that I wasn't being "accurate" enough in my work (they declined to offer a measure of what that meant), in a span of two weeks, they increased my workload by 30%. Then they initiated a cascade of talks about my performance without allowing for more than a day or two in between to show improvement. This led to a PIP, wherein I was given several days to have 100% accuracy (without giving an objective measure of evaluation) shortly after being given 30% more work with a new client and during the most hectic time of the fiscal cycle.
In regards to their training methods, it is very piecemeal with no documentation other than incidental emails and trial and error. Most training is done in sessions where one is given the same, repetitive scenarios and examples with the same, exact wording. Management stresses that questions be asked in any scenario yet punishes targeted individuals for asking too many questions then reprimands the individual when questions aren't asked in a particular situation. It's crazy-making.
Even the perks and benefits are mostly geared towards revenue-generating consultants. They "offer" the same perks to internal employees, but it's generally frowned upon if they are actually used as freely as consultants use them. There was some controversy over the use of the kegerator in the Accounting department (which has since been removed) while consultants can be seen pulling from other kegerators during lunch. Don't even get me started on "mandatory fun".
