Pros
Mission-driven culture (initially), human-centered design focus, talented colleagues
Cons
Inconsistent leadership, lack of accountability, unclear performance management, culture shift over time. I worked at this company for just over two years. When I joined, it was genuinely a great place to work. The company was growing, leadership felt empathetic and inclusive, and the mission—particularly its emphasis on human-centered design—was what drew me to the role. While leadership was largely homogeneous, there was at least an expressed commitment to inclusion, collaboration, and thoughtful work. Over time, I became something of a specialist in project management and PMO-related work. I spent nearly a year and a half in project management–focused roles and consistently received positive semi-annual reviews. I was led to believe the company was committed to building a project management discipline and investing in my development within it. Conversations with HR and senior leadership about formalizing a PM career path reinforced that expectation and gave me confidence that my expertise and long-term growth were valued. Things shifted abruptly during my final months. Despite prior positive feedback, I was suddenly told I was “not hitting the mark” with no clear warning or transition. On my final project—a process improvement initiative—I conducted extensive data review, interviews, and workshops. My recommendations focused heavily on improving employee workflows and work environment, as nearly all failure points were people- and process-related. Leadership dismissed this approach, stating I should have focused primarily on financial impact and immediate cost savings. Given the company’s stated commitment to human-centered design, this was surprising and disorienting. Although I revised my recommendations, I was then expected to independently prototype or implement nearly all of them within a four-week period. At the same time, feedback turned overwhelmingly negative and non-specific. I was told I might be placed on a PIP, and that my prior positive reviews had been “handled incorrectly.” No leadership member took responsibility for that, nor was I provided concrete, actionable feedback, coaching, or additional resources to improve. It became clear that differing perspectives were not welcome, and that expectations were shifting without transparency. I was also informed that the company would no longer be pursuing a project management career track—despite my prior involvement in building it. Taken together, this felt like clear writing on the wall, so I began searching for a new role. I secured another project manager position and gave my two weeks’ notice. After doing so, multiple leaders asked me to reconsider because my departure would leave them short-staffed—despite me still receiving daily negative feedback. During my final two weeks, the CEO met with me and acknowledged that the situation had not been handled well, stating that “sometimes someone who isn’t a good fit stays longer than they should.” While my project management expertise was acknowledged, I was told it was not something the company needed—something contradicted by subsequent hiring for project and program management roles. Ultimately, I experienced a rapid and unexplained shift from being trusted, praised, and hand-picked for PMO work to being treated as underperforming in the span of a few months. The company talks a lot about values, but in practice, accountability flows downward, and challenge or dissent - especially from those outside the dominant leadership group - is not well tolerated.