Pros
While this firm should be have a demerger, be spun-off, or just shutdown for a multitude of reasons, the company hires some very good people who need this job. Furthermore, there are parts of the company that do very well. It's the parts directly under Jim Moss in the DC Office that perform poorly. This may not be indicative of other offices and working under other managers. In any case, here's the good stuff: -Generous healthcare plan. -Very generous compensation. -Has a 401(k) (only employee contribution). -Family-feeling environment. -Easy to get hired. -Minority owned business. -Relatively small company with well-known clients. -A leader in non-profit compensation consulting along with Quatt. -Great location! Right by U St. Metro, so there's tons of good eats. -Fun staff, the kinds that act like your best friend more than your co-worker. -Co-workers become like family (you need peer support to survive). -Homey office. -A manager who understands when someone is struggling. Still, take a look at the following companies instead: -Towers Watson -Quatt -Non-profit HR -Deloitte -Keating Advisors -Veritas -Millennium Group
Cons
I decided to wait a year before I wrote this to reflect so I could remove emotion from this. However, the criticisms remain valid.. A year ago today, the head of the company, Jim Moss, said he wanted to groom me to be the next SVP, because even though I had no human resources or business experience, he liked that I "BS well" (I was being sincere during the interview). Within the first week, he threatened to fire me. I worked an extra 2 months, and was fired for doing exactly what he asked, but he changed the task (see later), and for not being "a numbers guy, " (even though I'm considered an expert in statistics and Excel, and have worked 7 months after in HR consulting on budgets). Then, Jim personally wrote letters to future employers that I "severely hurt the company." These are only a handful of stories; every day was a case study in poor management, and it's help me as I go for my MBA. By the end of job, my co-workers said I figured my job out, and did it well, learned faster than anyone within the time period I worked, but too bad. When I was there, there wasn't a single employee who liked the job. Not one. But almost everyone needed the job. There were two others before me who barely lasted, one threatened lawsuit, and I'm sure the person who succeeded me isn't there anymore. -Extremely inappropriate work environment with a terrible work culture. My co-workers spent the day muttering and insulting management. Others spent days telling very raunchy stories. -Management is condescending and insulting; will not update with the times and certainly will not take criticism or being told that sometimes, they're plain wrong. -Even top management and partners walks around muttering that they hate Jim. -Unpredictable management, in terms of work and behavior. -Constantly confused staff in terms of what is required and roles, thereby giving no organizational structure except at the very top (On my first day, I asked a employee "What does the boss mean by..." He/she replied "I've been working for [a lot of] years, I still have no idea what he wants.") -MIcromanagment by the head of the company while using outdated or ineffective practices, failing to utilize resources of employees. -Work-life balance is non-existent. The manager realizes the more contracts he gets, the more money he can make. He doesn't have the staff to fill the need. My co-worker had 2 nervous breakdowns. He/she said the first year was torture. -Absolutely no training because middle-managers (who effectively work as such but aren't titled that way because of the organizational anarchy) are overloaded. I was advised to, "Learn by doing" but was given no direction or explanation of what to do, and was threatened to be fired for not doing it right the first time. -Extremely high turnover, yielding to compounding issues. -Constant hiring and retention of unqualified people, along with favoritism. -Management changes tasks on the fly, blames you for it and says that they told you do to the new task the whole time (this is the reason I was fired, and the boss allowed me to tape our conversations, so I had proof that he changed the task completely before firing me). Employees question their sanity, and no one can be happy in a place where everything is unexpected. -You will be paid above market, but you'll basically doing the job you'd have above your level, so it's a wash. -No inter-employee support against management; everyone needs their job. -Will try to ruin your career opportunities after working there out of spite.