Where do I begin? Sunquest had already been slipping the past 2 or 3 years and that free fall just seems to be accelerating at a very worrisome pace.
Upper Management (directors and executives)
- The only thing they seem focused on is taking care of their own (before leaving, Matt Hawkins signed an 11-year lease on a location so he could be closer to the office).
- They play favorites and don't even have the humility to hide it (it's not unusual for certain executives to bearhug a select few lower-level employees in the middle of the office while ignoring everyone else working nearby).
- They don't have qualms about berating people while others are around to hear it or see it (I've witnessed it myself far too many times).
Human Resources
- HR was a hot mess before Mike Epplen took over for Matt Hawkins, but it's a complete trainwreck now.
- The HR department has become a ghost town due to their own people leaving in droves (this department probably has one of the highest turnover rates within the company).
- Despite making promises about better benefits, culture, transparency, etc., HR has proven time and time again they exist solely to protect the interest of the executives and the investors.
- HR has supposedly made workplace "improvements" in direct response to survey comments and feedback from employees -- not true, the "improvements" were made in a vacuum and served only to save the company money (which is fine, but at least be honest about it).
- It took the entire management, HR, and executive hive-mind 3 months to approve and deliver employee evaluations and merit increases for 2018 (don't even get me started on the paltry merit increases they doled out).
Middle Management
- "Entitled" seems to be the most appropriate term for most of the managers at Sunquest.
- A lot of them refuse to do things if it seems beneath them.
- They prefer to have things fed to them so they don't have to do more than necessary.
- They don't take things seriously when employees bring up concerns or issues, so they end up festering and getting out of control, which kills productivity and morale.
General
Clients have been jumping ship at an alarming rate. Sunquest has contingency plans in place to try and keep clients by selling ancillary products and services (instead of their core products like Lab, Blood Bank, CoPath, and PowerPath), but the plans don't take into consideration the employees who will lose their jobs due to a lack of work stemming from clients moving to EPIC and Cerner.
Needless to say, Sunquest is in a skid. If they can't, or if they're unwilling to, correct it, they're going to crash and burn. Something needs to happen and it needs to happen now. I hope they do the right thing, but based on their track record, I don't have very high hopes.
