Dishonesty, No Leadership, Not a Place for a Career - Associate Topel Forman Employee Review

The partners' perception of their leadership abilities is far from the reality of how leadership responsibilities are fulfilled: Client expectations are mismanaged, resulting in a ton of unnecessary leg work each year before tax returns can be prepared; When executive decisions related to work products are communicated, they often create more confusion and inefficiency among the staff, not less; Budgeting is haphazardly managed and almost never accurate or sufficient; Responsibilities among different ranks are co-mingled, overlapping, and not appropriately segregated; There’s no clear criteria for what rank is responsible for client communication, or how one would advance into that position; On-the-job or real-time coaching is often neglected and never comes from the partner group directly; There is no clear or specific unison among the partners’ work style or expectations; There is no clear path of promotion or advancement. Expectations are formally outlined for each rank, but they seem to be completely ignored as a measure of one’s progression, and actual performance reviews are not factored into promotion decisions; Some of the partners cannot hold themselves accountable to the performance standards for the ranks beneath them; The partner group and upper management are nice people, but being nice is not a leadership quality, and nepotism is pervasive; What is most disconcerting is the dishonesty from the partner group and especially HR; Don’t be fooled by flexible schedules – the partner group doesn’t seem to value efficiency or flexibility – only that the staff throw themselves at work each week and work over the minimum (i.e. work more, not smarter). The lower levels (staff – supervisor) are not genuinely valued. The firm appears to operate its lower tiers as a wheelhouse of cheap and disposable labor. This is not difficult to discern when you see that someone’s “last day at the firm” occurs every few months. One would be wise not to ask for a pay increase, which appears to fast-track you to the cutting block. During busy season, the work is very mundane. The tax software is abominable, and results in more headaches than one can have patience for. It’s more than inefficient – it detracts from actual learning and development.