4y
Thanks. This review gives us a chance to tell our true story. We’re proud of it. But first, yes, Charles is terrific and everyone loves working with him.
“… Treat people like people…” > When this young man explained why he was sleeping at his desk—gaming into the night and being the “squad leader”—I looked past the negative and saw leadership potential that I hoped could be re-directed. I took him to lunch to talk about the importance of setting goals. I admired his understanding of networking and tried both encouragement and admonition.
I knew he was under-utilized and probably bored. He has an engaging personality, so I asked him if he’d like to give “sales” a try. He enthusiastically accepted and we flew him across the country for top-notch sales training. He stayed at our home, I took him to dinner, and I offered him a juicy commission on top of his salary.
Later when his commute became excessive because his parents asked him to move out, I called him personally and offered to pay for an apartment near the office so he could get more sleep.
He turned my offer down.
I didn’t give up. He resigned. And I think this story exemplifies “treating people like people" to an uncommon degree. Thank you, young man, for giving me a chance to share it. (Our employee count has since increased ten-fold. Thus we cannot always show this level of personal concern, but I think the story shows solid intent.)
“Racist/Bigoted” > At the time of this post, our 8 business units/departments were headed by six females, a black man, and a gay Asian man. Our workforce is 98% non-white. We proactively hire in the mostly Hispanic “opportunity zone” surrounding our head office. For five years, our charitable donations went to an African village to support AIDS victims. Our actions speak for themselves.
“… Homophobic…” > Our workforce was VERY disproportionately LGBTQ at the time and probably still is. In some 40,000 conversations with employees over 20 years, I never once heard a homophobic utterance and would not tolerate it. This “review,” from an employee in a small remote office, is an unmerited and unacceptable attack on an amazing group of hard-working people who have dedicated year after year of long, exhausting hours to creating a good company.
“They will complain about paying you 50% of the average salary for your position (US) > This person’s pay increased 75% in 22 months at Civicom. It was $12/hour in his previous job; we hired him at $14/hour and raised it to $21-22/hour, including bonuses.
“…Instead of giving raises, they increase your "bonus" and simply don't pay you if they don't feel you earned it…” > Our bonuses are a modified profit-sharing based on “the company’s progress and a subjective assessment of the employee’s contributions toward that progress.” They have increased consistently as of this writing. Reductions are rare but sometimes called-for.
“… If you complain about their illegal employment practices, they will threaten to fire you…” > The CA* office manager takes pride in ensuring compliance with Federal and State regulations. She conducts extensive research and consults with professionals when necessary. (*Where this employee worked.)
“… They only pay a fraction of healthcare costs - I was paying 2/3 of my own insurance. > Employees were reimbursed 50% of health insurance at the time—later changed to 100% employee/50% dependent.
“… The culture here encourages backstabbing colleagues instead of helping them…” > We ask new employees to commit to “mutual respect," “respectful confrontation,” and “constructive feedback.” And there are frequent reminders of these values though company disciplines.
“… The owner of the company is an upper class white male who lives in a metaphorical ivory tower in Greenwich, CT where the median price of a home is 1.4m USD…” > Not that it should matter, but we bought the fixer-upper we currently live in in 1986 when my annual pay was $29K. I have driven the same low-cost car for 14 years, and while driving it, the company gave $500K to charities—including the one we founded. Some would call this “putting your money where your mouth is” – investing back into the company and supporting worthy causes.
“… and makes trips to Italy to get more wine for his personal collection…” > The most expensive bottle of wine I had purchased at the time of this review was a magnum Bordeaux that I personally carried across the country to share with our San Diego employees, including this young man and his girlfriend.
Again, I’m proud of what this response says about our company and amazing team.
