• Speed of growth adversely impacted the culture – “Not the same was used to be” is commonly heard, especially from tenured employees. Stop blaming COVID for the culture shift.
• Poor Hiring practices also impacted culture. A commented offered, “The current culture is outdated, and I need to create my own “Dos and Don’ts” which aligned with concepts taught in grade school and had a “cultish” feel to it.
• Hiring is biased and oftentimes focus on how many boxes an internal or external candidate checks off. Candidate selection has little to do with skillset or experience.
• Inward mobility is for the chosen few who are aligned and not for the outspoken minority. An environment of mutual trust, freedom of expression, and teamwork wasn’t the norm.
• Decisions by hiring panels are “overruled” by management, and their specific candidate is selected, while other candidates are rejected without qualification.
• A multi-billion-dollar company awards prizes but requires the employees who win the prizes to sign off that they are responsible for the taxes.
• The performance evaluation process is lengthy, cumbersome, and does not accurately reflect performance or fair compensation. Observed merit increases adjusted and awarded based on gender, not performance, and did not align with published standards and guidelines.
