AmericanTours Reviews

Pros

They have great cutting end technologies and some very good architects and lead developers. They also have some travel benefits.

Cons

Lack of reviews.
No Job stability or feedback.
Information hording.
No Career path or training.
Random layoffs
Pay and Benefit cuts with lack of appreciation
no Positive reinforcement, only negative i.e.working unpaid overtime then receiving a pay cut regardless.
Lack of a Business process for releases.
Unreasonable Deadlines seem they are not based on any sort of metrics but rather clients requests / demands.
Poor benefits and lack of incentives.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the team working for you. Don't hold meetings promising one thing then do the opposite. Offer training or some form of advancement within the company. Don't bother trying to motivate people with false hopes and unachievable promises. When people ask questions and specifics of these promises and there is no direct answer, they can see right through it. Require annual reviews instead of making people request them. Don't treat people as if they are disposable, people are what make up the company. Provide feedback to employees let the employees know where they need improvement. Create Reasonable deadlines that include some time for unplanned events or training new employees, you will reach them much more often. Don't horde information. If you want things to get done quickly, it helps when people know background information involving what they are working on. What is the reasoning behind making changes that will impact everyone?

Pros

There is truly a lot of great talent at the organization. There are SOME great manager sand executives. The travel benefits are pretty good and the industry is pretty interesting and sexy if you get into it.

During the time that i was there the technology stack had been very simplified and there was a clear general direction on where IT needed to go in order to further reduce maintenance costs. The team we had working on it was fantastic, however, all of them left (6 of them as a direct result of ownership's treatment of them).

The greatest pro that this company has is its pure potential. ATI could revolutionize the travel industry in so many ways, but keep tripping over themselves in the process. Its somewhat amazing they are even surviving.

Cons

Ownership has placed absolutely no value in learning even at a high level how IT works and how it can best serve the organization. As a result you have flip floppy decision making about projects, reckless and ruthless about their staffing, an inability to empower their IT staff to actually complete a project and a flip floppy dedication to IT that results in the rug being pulled out underneath your efforts.

In addition to the ownership issue the other VP's in the organization have worked with the organization so long that they understand exactly what ownership wants and how to circumvent it. They also are VERY territorial and there is a lot of passive aggressive infighting.

Advice to Senior Management

1. Focus on getting the 'RIGHT' people into place.
2. Rigorous not ruthless when it comes to staff
3. Make a plan and stick to it! Stop worrying about the daily change in the markets, let your executive leadership handle that.
4. Use budgeting as an opportunity to figure out what will be FULLY FUNDED and what wont be worked on at all.
5. Noel and Michael should step down and allow a CEO with vision, leadership skills and discipline to move the organization forward into a new phase of its existence.

Pros

The employees are generally upbeat, helpful and friendly. Fun-oriented team building activities occur regularly. If you want to learn the travel industry, or computer technology, or are a workaholic, you will get ample opportunity for fulfillment here. There are also some travel industry related benefits.

Cons

Performance reviews and professional development take a back seat to output. There is a stated shared-cost supervisor approved education reimbursement program, but your boss may balk at even reimbursing for needed books . The workload is also distinctly seasonal, so you will be much more comfortable if your personal schedule can be adapted to that. Employees come and go much more frequently than anywhere I have worked before.

Advice to Senior Management

You need to expand beyond your knowledge of the travel industry and employ modern organizational management to create career opportunities and a more committed team.