- Hostile work environment overall, I won't recommend this company to anyone but if you are a candidate with some experience and a shred of dignity, don't even consider interviewing here. it is a waste of your time. Leadership also considers interviewing candidates a waste of time anyway. Don’t be surprised if you only meet 1-2 people before they extend you an offer.
- Immature leadership - All the "C-level executives" are immature, irrational, manipulative, passive-aggressive and detached from reality. They are all male too which it is not uncommon but at this company women do not stand a chance at all.
- Chefman's Culture is toxic and backstabbing - Leadership is constantly trying to replace current employees. They won't fire anyone until they find a "smarter" candidate with the right "mindset". Employees are constantly in fear of getting fired. It's a revolving door there - very high turnover. If you “dare" to question leadership, they will discount your experience, credentials and bully you into believing their opinions are facts. The culture is non-existent and the person in charge of Recruiting and Human Resources (Chief Strategy Officer) does not have the competencies nor the experience or education to lead these functions. There is no data driven approach to anything. Obviously, what does not get measured, does not get managed.
- There is no support for women in leadership. Leadership "promotes" junior female employees to manage departments, but they are only taking advantage of the drive that female employees have to do a great job and prove their worth. Women are only being manipulated to do the dirty work for leadership. The difference in demeanor that the male leadership has during meetings towards male and female employees is astonishing.
- Employees that stay at Chefman long term will most likely have never questioned leadership. If you have opinions and disagree with leadership, you will be replaced soon.
- Their recruiting process is absolutely biased and changes daily depending upon leadership’s mood. All zoom interviews have been recorded without the participant’s consent (there is no disclaimer or notice letting people know) and these recordings are used internally to assess a candidate's suitability and "mindset". Many candidates are asked to complete a long take-home test which is branded and appears to many as an attempt to get candidates to work for free. Also, don't be surprised if you never receive feedback after an interview. Leadership's feedback on candidates is based on "gut feelings" and usually they are not able to articulate what "they feel deep inside". If internal recruiters or outside recruiters "ask why a candidate is a pass" the response will be something like: "not smart enough", "candidate did not inspire me", "I have a sense this person is not going to wow us"... Also, do not be surprised if there is no job description or tangible KPIs to assess success in a position. The jobs are misrepresented to candidates most of the times.
- Compensation is all over the place, some people get bonuses others don't. The reasons are unknown. Some employees are well-compensated; others are paid below market.
- Long hours (10 -12 hours/day). No work/life balance and you are expected to work nights and weekends, specially if you interact with manufacturers overseas.
- Leadership wants you onsite even during COVID. They will make exceptions but several employees in the office got infected with COVID-19 including the CEO and the office was closed for a few days. They will tell you they follow CDC guidelines, but they don't.
- Benefits are not great either. Insurance is expensive, PTO policy is not competitive, 401(K) vesting schedule is not competitive.
- There is a waitin period to be fully eligible for benefits, the enrollment is done manually and cumbersome. I was hired in August and was not eligible for benefits until Nov
- They have not welcomed the 21st Century and they are still using old, very slow computers that get recycled all the time, no modern systems or efficient ways to store data companywide.
