Pros
The enormous feeling of relief and satisfaction that comes with handing in your resignation letter
Cons
Working at AdMed is like simultaneously having a root canal and a colonoscopy while being stabbed in the eye with needles, set on fire, and having your insides chemically burned with cyanide, and it all boils down to one pivotal issue: horrendous upper management. 1) EXTREME MICROMANAGEMENT. Don't be fooled by other reviews claiming that the small size of the company allows for greater individual impact and growth. No individual employee has the power to make any impact on the company because AdMed's mode of operation is top down micromanagement. Upper management micromanages every aspect of a project, from editing, art conceptualization and implementation, to medical content (none of which they are qualified to do). They work under the mindset that there is only one right way to do things, and it's their way. As a result, AdMed employees are viewed and treated as pawns to do upper management's bidding rather than individuals with unique skills, training, and creativity. 2) DEGRADING WORK ENVIRONMENT. Employees at AdMed are not recognized as human beings. Life outside work (kids, a social life, personal illnesses and emergencies) simply do not exist. Employees are routinely expected to bend over backwards and stay after hours to execute what upper management wants (which is often inadequately communicated), or to finish projects with deadlines that were impossible to begin with. This goes above and beyond the fast pace of agency life or the typical conscientious person's "I'm going to finish this before I leave work today" attitude. AdMed prioritizes business profits over employee welfare, and as a result, the number and scope of projects exceeds the capable human workload (not to mention AdMed is chronically understaffed because of poor employee retention). Not only is there absolutely no training or on-boarding, employees have no breathing room or room for error. When errors do occur (which they inevitably do with this degree of timeline disorganization and pressure), upper management focuses more on pointing fingers than finding solutions. Constructive feedback is rarely if ever given, and verbally abusive criticism is, sadly, the norm. 3) COMPANY ISSUES. First, there is no HR at AdMed. There's no venue in which employees can lodge their complaints to an unbiased party. This is a big problem in companies like AdMed where all of the issues stems from the top down because it creates a system where upper management can get away with atrocious behaviors because they are accountable to no one but themselves. Second, there was greater than 80% employee turnover across all departments during the one year I was employed there. Many of the employees who quit hadn't even been at the company for one year. This speaks volumes about how unhappy employees are as a result of the dysfunctional working environment at this company. However, unlike the massive employee turnover rate, upper management has remained largely the same for the past 30 years and is unlikely to change in the future since AdMed is a family-owned business. And third, salaries are non-competitive (and frankly unacceptable for what they put you through) and benefits are skimpy. Though to be honest, I would not work here even if they raised my salary by 500%.
