I wish I could write more positively about my employment at DDI, but I can’t. When a company’s mission is to elevate leadership talent, and your personal passion is to do the same, it seems realistic to expect that your OWN talent will be elevated and valued as well. Unfortunately, this is not the case at DDI. What I saw is that DDI provided learning and development solutions to other organizations but missed so many opportunities to create a learning and development environment for its own employees. It should have had a world-class leadership development program inside the doors but fell far short. Beyond development opportunities, the picture remains dim. As a matter of fact, most things that DDI says it believes are contradicted by the actions of its leaders. Here are just a few examples in a long list:
• They say: We welcome your ideas and insights from your experience. We want innovation and creativity. The reality: When you offer innovative ideas and insights, they are discounted and not valued. The standard of high conformity (we don’t do it that way here) prevents this from occurring.
• They say: Everyone has a fair opportunity for promotion and advancement. The reality: When leadership positions open, in most cases they are awarded to white men. Women account for a large part of the DDI workforce yet hold very few leadership positions and are likely the lowest paid. DDI proudly publicizes that it is woman-owned and has a female CEO, but unfortunately, those facts don’t translate into female workers enjoying a supportive, empowering culture. There exists an internal ‘favorites club’ and for members, work life is very satisfying. They name the job they want and get it. It is a highly exclusive environment, and HR leadership does nothing about it.
