NOT a "Best Place to Work" - Anonymous employee Knight Point Systems Employee Review

The corporate culture is atrocious. There is a massive gulf between the home office minions and those that work on-site with the customers. I was employed for two and a half years, a respected member of my team and a key asset to my client, but received not one raise or other financial reward. When I dared to try to engage the home office in various ways and through various channels, I was treated more like a virus than a valued employee trying to make a difference. It was made clear that I was the hired help - and shouldn't attempt to influence how my program was run or engage with corporate. Also, take a look at the executive team on their website - notice anything? All white, middle-aged males. There is a huge diversity gap at the highest levels. Even in quarterly "all hands" meetings, every voice heard on topics from HR, to process improvement, to corporate updates, were all male. Where are the women in this company?? Annual "Ethics training" is a joke. A check in a box - and a complete waste of time. The CEO is noticeably absent from interactions with employees in the field. In one-on-one conversations he talks a good game about culture and improvement - but does not take measures to ensure that message is carried through to the program management level and below. He can reference as many leadership books as he likes – it rings hollow when you experience a total lack of adherence to the principles they advocate. Watch out for HR - a good thing to remember with any HR department is who signs their paychecks. They work for corporate, NOT the employees. Don't let yourself be fooled otherwise. HR proved to be passive aggressive and ill-equipped to address questions or issues. At the program level - I was on a large team that was completely stove piped within itself - not to mention how removed we were from corporate. I had no idea what the people on the other teams on my program were doing - or even who they were. There were absolutely no attempts to collaborate or cross train to benefit the customer. In the entire time I was there - there was never a single program level meeting! Ridiculous. Additionally, as positions on other programs became available, we were either discouraged from applying, or told outright that we weren't eligible to move. Yet - they persistently prodded existing staff to recruit family and friends to fill the growing list of positions. I would actually warn friends against working there. My team lead did his/her best - but they were operating within a failed system with failed leadership. In my time at KPS, I was asked to complete surveys constantly. I'm not even exaggerating when I say multiple times per month. I tried to provide constructive feedback - but it became clear that it was falling on deaf ears. I can only come to the conclusion that they were either padding the survey results with responses from those coddled in the home office, or were buying their 'best place to work' accolades from the publications who sponsor them. I often described my experience at KPS as a 'serf' in a feudal enterprise. The 'knights' were all in Reston, while the 'serfs' worked in the field with the customers, doing the hard work that makes their privileged existence possible. BEWARE. I can't help but wonder if their lack of concern was driven by a longer term plan to inflate the company for the purpose of sale. Which brings me to the “10X” initiative. Corporate seemed to have a laser focus on growing revenue x 10 in 10 years - but what they should be focused on is addressing the systemic issues in the company culture. Also - look up "Knight Point Systems investigation".