Toxic Culture - werkgeversreview Project Manager bij Cargas Systems

Nepotism and cliques undermine the integrity of the organization. Being a medium-sized business, Cargas Systems lacks the professionalism and open-mindedness of larger, more-established companies. Through their insistence on promoting from within, much of the management layer is comprised of "old guard' employees who are both lacking in actual management skills and perspective, due to coming up through the internal ranks rather than from outside organizations. Personal history and personal relationships cloud the judgement of management, and even C-level personnel. Inconsistencies in performance objectives, the "moving of goalposts" for others highlights a pervasiveness in biases that are not based upon performance, but rather some other unpublished criteria that serve hidden agendas. Cynicism and negativity ruled the roost, with managers questioning and second-guessing direct reports across multiple departments, while offering little-to-no constructive criticism, frequently gaslighting employees for failing to meet some never-before stated goal or objective. Managers tended to be lazy, (with a few exceptions), ruling by hypocrisy due to not wanting to adhere to the same rules laid out for their subordinates. Cargas loves to boast about its culture, highlighting it's "flip-flop friendly" dress code, nifty vending machines, ping ping tables, community initiatives, 6-foot-tall letters on their walls outlining their core values, and gushing over the grit of their founder (who is no longer directly involved in the business). Most of this is superficial, and only those completely drunk on the Kool-aid pretend to actually believe it. You'll find relatively high turnover in all positions below middle-management, as it only takes a few months to realize just how hopelessly dysfunctional Cargas truly is. In addition to the cultural dysfunction of Cargas, they tout their fiscal responsibility as an "employee-owned" company, while simultaneously leasing one of, if not THE most-vain new office spaces in Lancaster county, in the recently-renovated 101 North Queen building. Rather than finding a more-accessible, and economical space to ensure that their balance sheet was healthy, and that their employees could easily access (parking- ahem!) the building, the Cargas leadership team opted instead to further pat themselves on the back and massage their ego in their shiny, new corner building with "CARGAS" in large letters on the side for all passers by to see, only to send all employees to work from home amidst a global pandemic, and leave their downtown utopia to collect dust...