Far what it used to be, once upon a time... - Anonymous employee AVI-SPL Employee Review

AVI-SPL company outgrew itself and lost touch with its employees in that process. Management is actively seeking "new shiny coins" and all diving deep and at once for it. Expansion and acquisitions are priority and there are more VP titles onboard then engineers or programmers. People are numbers, for the most part and there is no "family" feeling and vibe any longer. Emphasis is on everything but the core foundation of its founder - the AV. Raises are pretty much non-existent and middle management does poorly on annual evaluation of their employees. Consistent threats by local management and constant fear of losing a job dominates the local office morale across everyone onboard. Recognitions on local offices level are sparse and entire company feels rather disconnected. Our offices that should be used as showcases to current and prospective clients, are falling apart and dire need of upgrades. Upgrades are only noticeable if they come from a specific manufacturer in a form of a new microphone or projector, but the entire workspace is screaming “1989” anywhere you look; an embarrassing proposition for an assumed visit of clients looking for “high-tech” advice from AVI-SPL. Constant competition between regions and lack of proper territory sharing creates animosity between the offices. The accounting, procurement, quoting, payroll, prospecting, service and all other existing online and offline tools are decades behind the current IT trends. Service department has never felt as detached and as disorganized as today and its structure and pricing are as illogical as outrageous. Tools required by any employed trade are hard to obtain and require multiple requests and are randomly approved. Office teambuilding activities do not exist and gatherings after hours or over the weekends with families happen once a year (there is no money for it, management said…) Healthcare offerings are on not in line with the competitors, but they are getting better. But high deductibles and medications copays are unstoppably financially burdening an average family and they seem to rise year after year. Training is only approved if it carries zero cost to the company and if it is paid by the sponsors and/or manufacturers. Same goes for tradeshows, travels, etc. Overall, company could do much better if it wasn’t as top-heavy as it is and if it could focus back again on what matters the most – its core people.