- Location: Why would you locate your company in the dirty armpit corner of the Las Vegas Strip? Homeless walking around and constantly digging through garbage around our break areas. The free parking pass is nice yet* (*News Flash: Every big Video Game company does this. So this is why it's a Con in this sense, especially since the one here isn't even company owned. Just a separate parking area (2 blocks away) where parking passes are bought for each employee while the Leads and Managers have a parking garage right next to the building.)
- Treatment of Employees (Seasonal and Regular Full Time) : Timing is everything here. Sometimes you need to work the hardest out of everyone to get a promotion or a Full Time Position after being hired Seasonal. Other times you just gotta be in the right place at the right time and you could be given Senior for being on the right team or under the right Lead. You are taught that you need to find and write the high quality bugs, but the person that writes the most low quality bugs gets Senior? Hmmm.....
Even when quarterly reviews roll around and you meet all your set goals, your lead can just as easily tell you that you need to do more in order to qualify for a promotion. There are people there that have worked 5+ years and still haven't been promoted because of this. *shakes head*
- Poker Chip system: You get a poker chip for doing something out of the ordinary (Find a submission stopping bug, write the most A's in a week, etc.*. *The catch is that just because one person wrote twice as many A's in a week and got himself a chip, doesn't mean that will work every time. The whole point is the chip system isn't consistent on how you earn them. So you could never get a chip and write all the good bugs or you could do the most regression in a day and get one, while someone could do the same and get nothing...........
What you do with said chips is when you gain enough of them, you can redeem them for "swag". Yet if you know anything about other big game companies, you'll know right off the bat that the "swag" they offer shouldn't even be considered swag. Things like badge reels and t-shirts with the Company logo on it (*whisper*Stuff that most companies gift you when you start working day one *whisper*). Other useless things like cheap USB desk fans and bluetooth speakers (all of which cost the company pennies on the dollar to buy). At the end of the day it's a failed system that needs to be rethought.
- Letting Seasonal Testers go: When a seasonal tester is to be let go, they are pulled away into a meeting room to be given the notification that they are no longer working at the company. Sure, that's fine, but on the other side of it, this can happen without any prior notice and even if the tester did a great job.
Other testers see the person whisked away, while another employee comes in and tries to 'covertly' clear the seasonal tester's desk as fast as they can. They don't allow Seasonal testers to clear their own desks and say goodbye to their fellow co-workers. This can bring some psychological stress to other Seasonal testers. Almost akin to seeing someone being swiped with a bag over their head.
STOP DOING THIS. Let the seasonal tester come back in, clear their belongings, hug or shake hands with their co-workers and be walked out. SIMPLE
- Encouraging outward growth: Multiple occasions during my quarterlies I had mentioned what I wanted to do within the Video Game industry. It wasn't QA testing, but it was in development and would ultimately be in a different team. Even after hearing this information, seeing as it was not related to QA, it ended up being an 'in one ear and out the other' scenario. They will only help you move to another branch of the company if it is in a QA position. Even if you are totally qualified for the position you have been wanting, they couldn't care less. They would rather move you into a position that takes you farther away from that dream than push you towards it. They might say they want to help you pursue those, but they rarely put in the effort.
- Desk Furniture and Admin Computers: Each employee has their own desk with their own computer and peripherals. You'd think if there are so many employees, everyone is going to have the same brand desktop computer, mouse, keyboard, etc. NOPE!
All Displays, keyboards, and computers are all hand-me-downs taken from other failed companies that went under. Some older than the company itself. This also goes for the screens used to test the various titles that are being produced. Sure, various screen resolutions must be tested to get a clearer view of what consumers are using, but when it comes to writing bugs, that logic doesn't fit! Dusty, grimy mouses and keyboards are just tossed around and you might get either a very nice admin display and cpu, or just get the crappy slow and low resolution set up. (THIS MAKES PRODUCTIVITY INCONSISTENT!)
Recently the company did a little moving around and ordered some new screens (5 years too late) and only half of the new testers got the new ones and the rest got the old hand me downs. Really?
- No snacks at your desk: This one recently occurred after some shifting around happened. When it was seen that there was just too much of a mess left untouched, this privilege was removed. There has yet to be any plan to bring that back. (See Advice to Management for a possible solution.)
It was nice to be able to have a bag of chips or some trail mix to help keep the energy up during long work hours. 12 hour days 6 days a week can get you drained real fast. Now, snacks can only be had outside or in the kitchen areas during breaks.
- No phones policy: This one cracks me up. You allow Leads and Managers to have phones (not just work phones), yet you don't allow testers this. You can monitor phone use when it comes to productivity very easily. Just have a rule that says you cannot use your phone while working, but you can still have your phone with you just in case of emergency. If you see a tester checking their phone constantly, then penalize them! If you are afraid someone might take photos of confidential information, FIRE THEM! WE ALL SIGNED AN NDA FOR A REASON. Which brings me to my next point.
- Not telling testers about secret new titles: WE ALL SIGNED AN NDA. If someone leaks something, just fire the person and move on. Tell the team that action was taken and create that "respect the NDA because we will find out" atmosphere. Not letting testers know about what is in the works removes a huge part of the excitement knowing about upcoming games that are in development that they will possibly test. If they don't get to know what is coming, they literally have no hope for the next day. No Hope? Not Happy.
- Last minute overtime: STOP IT. If you know for a fact something is going to need overtime, fine, but if you are just waiting on a build that you know isn't coming in on time, stop asking people to sit and twiddle their thumbs out of boredom for 4 extra hours. Especially if you tell them they are doing overtime 10 minutes before the end of the shift. Make that optional at the very least. Be nice and respectful about it and people won't moan and groan.