Normally, I would not write a review as I believe we all have different experiences and perspectives at an employer and would hate to mislead someone. Some places are a good fit for some, while bad for others. However, after a year of working at ATS it didn’t seem to be the right fit for anyone. Enough people shared the same stories, perspectives, feelings, and attitudes towards the company, leadership, and culture that I decided I should convey some of that to those who may be looking for employment there.
The Company: stagnant, no road map for future growth, no value proposition to differentiate from competitors. Don’t be fooled, it really is all about money.
Leadership/People: inexperienced, immature, unprofessional, lack self-awareness
The company has outgrown the owners/leadership and there aren’t many, if any, people there with significant, relevant experience. They want to keep doing it the “ATS way” because they had some early success in a new industry which benefited from a down economy and are now unwilling to change. They will talk about how they want to make improvements and innovate, but when people with the experience are present and willing to do so they are ignored, required to assimilate, or forced out. There is no one currently in place to lead the company to the next level. I worked with many of the managers and leaders in the company and can’t say I respected more than a few of them.
And don’t plan on learning anything from anyone. No one is there to teach or develop people. Expectations are not communicated, you are there to work the second you get in the door with no learning curve cushion given.
Culture: immature, unprofessional, gossipy, unhealthy, lacks accountability
There is nothing positive about the culture or the majority of the people there. I’ve never seen so many people negatively affected by a work culture like I did there. It truly affected employees outside the workplace. It is that bad and the main reason for high level of turnover. It was common for people to leave within 5 months.
The company gave salary increases and bonuses even though there was a plan to lay off a large part of the workforce due to poor performance. Good, responsible management would freeze salaries and bonuses to save jobs instead of paying more to the ones responsible for the issues as the need for reductions was caused by a trend of poor leadership decisions and a true lack of connection with current customers and the market environment.
Because everything flows from the top it really comes down to having an inexperienced and immature leadership team that lacks relevant experience, self-awareness and simply just doesn’t get it.
Find somewhere else to work, or do a lot of research and ask a lot of tough questions before committing to this company, because it will not commit to you.
