Box Theory - Tax Supervisor RSM Employee Review

At RSM in Houston you are placed in a box from day one and that determines your career at the firm. This is not based on your input either. It is based on your interactions with management and how you work; the partners and management assume where they think your career should go. This can be a good thing, but it is ultimately a very bad way to operate. Certain people they peg as a superstar are just handed all of these great opportunities on a platter. They are taken to client meetings early on, they get to be involved in special projects where they can learn new things, they get the best clients to work on, etc. These opportunities make them stand out and more likely to get promotions over others. The partners know this and do it on purpose. If they see someone who they would like to get promoted, they throw extra opportunities at them that will increase their chances of getting promoted like interviewing, giving presentations, and leading special groups. These are great ways to get promoted and recognized but they are being handed out to favorites. This has led to multiple people getting promoted before they should and hurts that individual and the firm in the long run. Other people are placed into different boxes where they do not get special treatment. These are the people that the firm assumes just want to work and are not interested in growing or getting promoted like others. There are too many people in this category. I have worked with many supervisors and seniors who have been in those positions for multiple years and it is obvious they have the potential to grow and move up. The problem is they are not a partner's favorite so they have to fight for the opportunities that others are just handed on a regular basis. This is discouraging to them so they will most likely never bring it up. When they do the response from the partner is most likely "why didn't you tell me you wanted this before?" Valid question but in response to the partner I would ask "why are you handing these opportunities to others without them asking?" Management at this office is a disaster. What I have presented is just one big issue I have encountered during my time with RSM and it has frustrated me to no end. I do not see this changing. The partners and management are too stubborn to accept the fact that they have issues and need to correct them. They live in their own little world where everything is fine and the issues are ignored or swept under the rug. Until this ends and they start treating everyone fairly, they will continue to have high turnover and unhappy employees.