Constant reorganization leaves people unsure of the stability of their role, or the value they add. It is a lean company, seemingly run with as few employees as possible. New hires are often very inexperienced. There is a wide perception in the employee base that management is willing to fore-go paying for experience and are willing to "get by" by hiring the least cost employee in the lowest cost market. While that strategy is aggressive, it gives the current employee base a negative perception of the companies willingness to hire appropriately, despite Executive protestations to the contrary. This leads to significant overwork and a decrease in effectiveness in some areas. Note: I am not by nature a complainer about being busy. Busy is good. But a common refrain in Zayo is "...oh, this task is with the X group. Forget it, they are so underwater we won't get it back for weeks" At that point, one group being understaffed becomes a bottleneck and a challenge to organizational efficiency.
This is a Colorado-centric company. If you work in a different market, particularly a smaller market, you may never see an executive. Company fund-raisers, bbq's, and brainstorming sessions are all based in Colorado, with little to no mention of how anyone outside of Colorado can participate. I understand that it is the corporate headquarters, but there is a real perception in the outer markets that unless you are in the "Colorado Clique" you are not a part of the real company.
There is no yearly review and merit raise system. This is intentional and management is very open and forthcoming about it. The want to reward those people with an entrepreneurial spirit that will go out, succeed, and "get themselves" more money. Any Senior Executive that I have heard speak of this, speaks passionately and I believe really means it. The problem is, I have spoken to a lot of employees, and none of them really believes it. Almost to a person, the employee base feels this is a means to increase payroll as little as possible, because management knows not many people will come and ask year after year, despite cost of living and insurance costs going up. There are more stories around of employees working three and four years without a raise, or unanswered requests for raises than there are of successful attempts to get a salary bump. Again, I think the motive is genuine, but is it effective if nobody in the rank and file believes it?
As mentioned in previous reviews, there is no 401k match and few holidays. Zayo runs a tight ship. Prospective employees should know that going in.
I have been in companies that employ the "product unit" silo structure before. It has many advantages and Zayo implements it as well or better than anywhere else I have seen it. However, one of the drawbacks is a great deal of friction at handoff points, with multiple units coming together at one critical point with one of two possible outcomes: Everyone gets involved, and mucks it up with conflicting messages to customers and a fit of stop/start activity, or, everyone takes their hands off the ball and a very simple procedure languishes far longer than it needs to.
The company is very focused on satisfying the investors. We hear it on every company call, at every round table, in every press release, in every quarterly bonus release, whenever the company releases its earnings, and many more times to boot. It is a message that is important to the company, and well communicated. All companies should have this laser like focus on satisfying the investors, but there is a downside. Many employees feel management would gladly sacrifice any one of them for the sake of the bottom line.
