- SDC grew too quickly. They like to advertise the company as a high-growth start-up bootcamp where you get to have your hands in more than your average company, however, your frustrations are ignored or muted because the company is having "growing pains" and are "moving from the teen to adult phase" of the business. This is their positive way to spin that things are chaotic, frantic, overwhelming and out of control. You will begin to start a project or initiative and be handed 4 more, then 3 of those will be cancelled- this is on top of your normal workload by the way. There is a constant start and halt in the business cadence, it is either full-steam ahead or completely paused, there is no in-between because there is no money, resources must always be lean. They will sell you on the hyper-growth of what you will get to do while working there, but really it is a way to coverup the burnout. You will start many projects, you will finish few, even fewer will make any business impact or come to full fruition
-The company went public after only 5 years. They decided to make budgets after this, they were hemorrhaging $ before this. Because of this, the budget is now, "there is no budget. " One never existed, and if it had, there would be none left. Expensive downtown corporate apartments and luxurious 5- star international travel for some, the rest only get a bonus if they have direct reports, not even all "manager level" get one, and it is not guaranteed because it is company-performance based (hello $4/share stock). All departments built out VP's and Senior Managers first, then received their $0 budget for 2020 and realized the entire departments they were promised to build out and enticed to grow there, no longer exists. Know if you are in a management or below position, your 1 position, was supposed to be 3-15 others. The person above you is there for the strategic vision, you will be the "doer". Despite you being a team of 1, your workload and all you must do will remain the same
- Projects will change, because the business is constantly having to change to try to make $, there is none. Aligners sales slowing and being battled with dentist and orthodontics industry lawsuits? Let's try selling retainers and retail products so we can diversify the brand portfolio and get $. NBC undercover ethics investigation? Let's try wholesale, even paying our employees to bring in their dentists as clients. Even more lawsuits from the industry because teeth are falling out after moving without x-rays? Let's just expand internationally where there is less regulation. The company will do anything for a $. This is because the company IPO'ed at $23/ share and is now at $4. Investors are expecting profitability by the end of the year, at what resort will they go to make this happen?
- The company likes to advertise their "rapid growth", they constantly brag about hiring 6,702 global team members in 2019 alone. The company currently has around 6,000 total employees... do the math. This is how much turnover from firing, lay-offs, and people quitting they have had. They buried a 900 team member lay-off in February 2020 where they eliminated entire departments and tried to cover it up with a technology error in over hiring due to recent automation in the lab. The entire Experiential Marketing team was eliminated and more. You are considered a veteran if you make it past 6 months. If you tour the office, notice how they brag about the anniversary balloons, you will however only see "1" or "2" years, no one else from the beginning is left unless they are in the favorite group, they are the Senior Managers who this was their first job out of college, and now they are a figure-head and they actually do nothing, but you must listen to them
- The executive team literally calls themselves the "Avengers"- these grown adults are wanting to call themselves superheroes... if this does not express to you the amount of ego and micro-management at the most controlling senior-level branch of this company... this will be the one constant everyone at every-level speaks about. They play favorites, if your department head is not one, pull out out the microscope, you all will be under it with every move. They are also all related and have been working together for years, why would they even want an outside opinion? Most department heads have been terminated for pushing back, that is why there is constantly new leadership. Check your teams tenure before going further in the process, be cautious if they were there from the beginning (inexperienced favorites) or are newer (the replacement for someone who spoke out)
