Pluspunten
The talent being recruited for this company is second to none but most new hires are at the senior levels. Majority of the workforce is very young and inexperienced and while the top level is being filled out with industry experts, the second layer is all but absent. Therefore, in addition to client work and running the business, the executive team is also in charge of developing talent, which they really don’t have time to do. The vision of the company remains unclear. There seem to be two halves – consulting (relatively new) and health scholars (legacy business). While the CEO is busy building the consulting division in New York, the LA office is quickly dwindling. It feels like the health scholar team is being kept around for nostalgic reasons and they keep trying to tweak it to fit in the overall strategy but there is no real CEO engagement on the service line. The tone at the company is set by the CEO – a very hard driven and intelligent executive who works day and night and expects the same of his employees. Unfortunately, he doesn’t actually value anyone that works for him. He dresses down his staff (from executive team to assistant) in front of each other so that the affect is felt far beyond the poor person he is targeting. People joke about it or offer advice on how to avoid it. The problem is that no one is telling him plain and simple that THIS IS NOT OKAY. That he is a bully. And that his behavior comes with consequences. The benefits are top notch and there is plenty of fun being supported by the company from free lunches to weekly happy hours and offsite team building. This is great for attracting talent as well as keeping burnt out employees on the hook. What it doesn’t do is build loyalty and dedication. It is true – many companies survive and thrive with jerk CEOs and overextended employees, and many employees can find rewarding work despite being managed by a jerk. Only time will tell if COPE can survive rapid growth under current leadership, but for now, the revolving door of employees speaks for itself.
Minpunten
The above paragraph references the overall pros and cons.