Pros
During my time at Aviture, I found the majority of team members are well-intentioned people. There is a good mix of those who are hungry to grow versus those who are comfortable where they are. As an employee, you can learn and be exposed to a lot, but it is on you to take the reins. You can get exposure to different business niches; from commercial projects to government to the internal product team within Decision Logic. There is very little formal training and emphasis on a specific technology. The training is a "one and done" type situation, and the organization lacks an overall training structure. Given it is consulting work, you're plopped on your project and asked to produce pretty quickly. If you are a self-starter, you can thrive, but if you're looking for a step-by-step plan, it can be lacking depending on what project you land on. From the outside looking in, the company does all the right things; bi-weekly all hands, company vaca's, coaching program, flexible schedule, snack closet, etc. Early on in my time, I saw many unique and creative ideas presented to leadership related to organizational culture, overall structure, and project technology.
Cons
While there were a lot of great ideas, many of them have gone to die in the cemetery of ideas that seem to go nowhere at Aviture. It seemed like those ideas were either never discussed or placed on a merry-go-round to be revisited or asked about every 6-9 months. I have many thoughts that I want to ensure I cover in detail, as I observed quite a bit in my time there. Leadership Company leadership is apathetic at best. The CEO spends more time in his garage office tucked away from employees than actually engaging with team members. (Ps. The extra garage space was touted as an employee perk awhile back at the company Christmas party. Instead, he keeps his many cars in the garage vs installing the lift for employees to work on their cars, as previously presented). He'll sometimes have sporadic periods of being engaged and then thrust himself back into the garage and doesn't interact with many outside of his core group. "The Big 3", the company's 3-Chief members are the first people in the room to pass blame, take constructive feedback personally, and lack humility and empathy on a professional level when it comes to hard conversations. I observed it firsthand and saw many of my peers face the same treatment. Performance There is no formal performance review process. While the coaching team has raised up this concern several times to help advocate for employees, nothing has been put in place. - Raises are sporadic. Leadership will state they review everyone quarterly, but the measurement on why you do or don't get a raise isn't clear. For example, I got a bump in my salary and just got an email stating I had gotten the raise. When I asked for specifics, I was told, "you're doing a great job." That was it. No other clear indication as to why. It felt weird. - Bonus structure and who gets them is unclear - Success is not visibly measured and tends to be subjective in nature Overall: You never actually know how you're doing at Aviture performance-wise unless you have a solid project manager or lead. This is also assuming your pm or lead are in agreement with The Big 3. Turnover When quality people leave the organization, each departure is treated as a unique situation. There is a major trend when talent leaves the company that leadership refuses to address or be aware of. The turnover on the operations/business side of the house is laughable. Even after I started, I found out about people on that side of the business that departed which raised a lot of questions. The company has brought in so many heavy-hitters that disappear 6-8 months later. The CEO will typically address at the company's All Hands, but it's a bleak statement at best and frankly, unless you are close to that person, it doesn't matter to you so you don't ask questions. General Thoughts Aviture touts there's little red tape when in fact, it's littered with restrictions from the top down. It seemed like most internal initiatives fizzle out with little to no buy-in from the top. Internal Aviture project rework consistently happens and expectations are all over the board concerning client work. For example: The CEO has one expectation of the project, the CTO another, the lead another, the pm another and the client something else. (Think Office Space with 3-4 bosses). It can be maddening. HR is nearly non-existent and the head of operations has a track record of running women out of the organization. They've made horrendous comments towards other women in the workplace and play the victim when addressed. I witnessed one instance which was enough to sour my experience. It's not openly discussed, but certainly water cooler conversations and seemingly swept under the rug. Aviture has the ability to live up to their aspirations, but lacks the leadership, direction and discipline to get there at this point.
