Unfortunately I was abruptly cut from the team just as some of these reviews say happens quite a bit. However, it wasn't from the common scenario of an agency losing a client and therefore having to let go some employees. It was made known that it was the choice of one individual in leadership and it truly was unfortunate because I was growing and thriving according to many team members. It was expressed multiple times that it wasn't personal, however I have many reasons to believe it was and I would honestly say it was the result of a lack of leadership experience from that individual. I can say a lot more about my own departure, but I won't let my emotions take control of this review.
Some disappointing experiences are:
- Upon being hired I was persuaded with being told that they give bonuses to their employees each month they are profitable. During my first week I was then told they have never been profitable and haven't given any bonuses yet. I held onto that word "yet", but unfortunately that never happened during my employment and I don't see it happening anytime soon. I appreciate the good intention, but I was disappointed that they used that as a selling point for me to accept the position.
- Although getting settled in was a good experience, it became obvious fairly quickly that there is a disconnect between departments. It feels that each department is running their own agency and because of this there's disagreement of processes resulting in people doing their own thing. The project managers work hard to track everyones work load and timelines, however accounts bypass the PM's all the time and go straight to creative. And the creative leadership also wants you working on what they want when they want, making the PM's work basically irrelevant. Aside from task management, each department will throw different levels of expectations at you, so it's inevitable that you will fail someone.
- Lastly, I came into this position with nearly 12 years under my belt. I absolutely have full respect for those who were above me, as they have much more experience than I have (I was even excited to learn from them) however I was definitely treated like an entry level employee and felt my value diminish over time. I have also learned over the years that when someone has to repeatedly assure you they are "not a micromanager" they most definitely are. I don't mean to throw shade, my intention is sincerely to provide insight, but I did receive an incredible amount of disrespect and control.
All employees are often given opportunities to fill in survey's and give feedback to leadership, however I think the saddest part is that only a few days before being cut the survey question was about feeling valued. I wrote in a sincere message about how I didn't feel valued on my team, but I don't think it was ever considered or seen.