Pros
This is only for the IT side of Sharp. I cannot speak to what the work environment is like for Nurses and Doctors. Benefits: This is probably the highlights of working here. The benefits are supposed to be GREAT!! But they are slightly better than average. For example: You earn more than the average vacation hrs per pay period… but that’s because when it’s a holiday, YOU have to use your PTO hrs to pay yourself for that holiday. Hmmm not sure a great deal after all. I had opted for Sharps own health plan, because it is the best for my needs. But even with their own plan, for their own employees, I still payed more for co-pay and other deductible than I have paid in the past for other companies. I must say though, if you are lucky, you might negotiate yourself a job that pays above the average, which is hard to beat. Also there is some overtime when there is lots of work. I have not earned a lot of overtime due to the nature of my work but I hear some people really make use of it when they can and it’s a nice little bonus. Which brings to the annual bonus comments; based on your hours worked in the year, there is a bonus around end of the year, anywhere from $150 to $500, which is not bad considering most companies don’t give anything.
Cons
Timesheet: The biggest change for me was adapting to a clock-in clock-out system, yes like back in the days where you had to punch your time card. In my past 5 companies, this was unheard of, there are some time tracking tools, but no actual punch in and punch out rules. In my department, at least (not sure about companywide), everyone has to work 8 hours a day minimum… even when you have worked overtime in other days. So for example, you have worked your 40 hours a week around 3PM on Friday and you want to leave early… YOU CAN’T!!! You have to stay and work your 8 Hr day on Friday and leave when you have completed 8 hours. So you will NOT be leaving early… EVER! The only time you are allowed to leave early is when you have, with enough notice, requested to take PTO (Paid Time Off) from your boss. This is weird right!! You have to take your vacation time to complete the 8 hrs rule, so that you they can turn around and pay you back. This may be of some benefits if you want to get paid the OT but sometimes you just want to go home and see your family after a long week. Culture: “The best place to work” is the part of the core values that is preached all year long in everything you read. I really think that for the most part, the company does a good job at this. I go to some Hospitals and people seem happy, they have nice cafeterias, they exercise.... but not for the IT Department. You see, the IT Dept. office space is located at a warehouse building on Ruffin Rd. and it is very different than the rest of the company. There are no gyms nearby, there are no restaurants nearby, and there is no cafeteria on-site like most hospital and headquarters. The snack machines and soda machines are super expensive too!! So eating healthy is going to mean you bring in food, or you take more than 30 min lunch, which also means having to stay longer to make up the time to complete your 8 hr shift. The company promotes lots of health and fitness activities but they are pretty much on your own time. So if you attend an event from Sharp you either have to use your vacation time, or they are usually on the weekends. Team outings are pretty much non-existent. No team appreciation lunch or Christmas dinners or nothing of the kind. If you get along with your co-working you can schedule some time for lunches or dinners, of course none of this on company time. Something else I feel I have to mention: The Yearly Expo Event. This is a multimillion event that Sharp hosts at the convention center. They literally bus everyone employee from all different hospital to the convention center. There are snack and a nice (useless) little pin that you get as a gift. The presentation is pretty much an opportunity for top management (CEO and CIO etc) to have some fun doing their company movies that they show during this event. I must say though, the guest speakers are great, they are real patients that have undergone some major life changing events where Sharp was there to help them. I loved that part. I don’t know that they need to spend multi millions of dollars on this event though… just saying… my company mug was nice, but maybe a team lunch would be nice too.