Vantaggi
My team was outstanding! I could not have asked for a better group of people to report to me. Everyday I thanked my team for doing such an outstanding job. My immediate manager was excellent, experienced and patient, but powerless (more later...). Compensation was good, benefits were totally paid for, but deductibles (for office visits and prescriptions) were high.
Svantaggi
It is difficult to work for a company that promotes people via the "Peter Principle" (google it...). While I have a great deal of respect for the product, the company tended to make decisions without thinking them through. Reorganizations and restructurings should take place after careful evaluation and thought, not because of a knee-jerk reaction to some large company's expectations. The inability to make a significant change is demoralizing. When a company is struggling and you have a solution that goes unnoticed, unrecognized and undervalued, it sends a clear message; the most important thing is no longer the employee, but instead, is the shareholder. (Contrary to what Scott shares in his message about Ultimate). There are numerous people within senior management that choose not to hear the cries for help. When asked about my thoughts on solving the current crisis of under supported teams and customers, I responded, "Hire like there is no tomorrow". You can not have too much staff, especially if your company is planning to continue to grow. Ultimate is burning out its front-line staff by disregarding their pleas for more help. Powerless middle-level managers and directors make it very apparent that even if there was a promotion possible, you would be dealing with the same issues, just with a different title.