Different people have different experiences at Creative Office Pavilion. The senior sales people are treated like kings and they will tell you that COP is a great place to work. Everyone below them will have a different story to tell. Speaking up about the abuses that employees are subjected to are dismissed by management and HR and end up adding a target on your back. A few examples include:
*Not being allowed to work from home when sick. Five sick days cannot be enough for people. At least allow employees to work from home if they feel that they can still work but don't want to use one precious sick day, don't want to get anyone else in the office sick, or could simply use heads down time to meet deadlines while not in their best health.
*Being verbally assaulted by senior sales people and colleagues on multiple occasions. Responses from management include “what did you do to have him yell at you” or “don't take it personally” or “there is no proof of her yelling at you because it was over the phone.
*Being scolded for leaving 5 minutes early before a holiday, even though I would come in 45 minutes early and work through lunch every day. I was told that I was “making the company look bad” and was told that my actions were “embarrassing” No positive reinforcement or appreciation for the good we do.
*Working in an environment of micromanaging. Even though employees are responsible and meet deadlines, management wants to know where we are at all times, which includes putting a sticky note on our desk when we leave it. There is no flexibility for coming in late, for whatever reason life presents us with.
*Employees work on the weekends, on holidays, while sick. This does not contribute to a positive work life balance.
*No positive reinforcement, just continuous nitpicking and reprimanding. Pizza parties where everyone grabs a slice and goes back to their desk to keep grinding does not count.
*Unequal treatment of employees, including favoritism.
*Mental health not taken seriously by management or HR. It shouldn't be something anyone should have to justify.
*Zero team building or moral boosting exercises. Employees are expected to sit at their desks, not talk to anyone, and work to the bone.
*Focused on supporting sales with little to no recognition.
*Watched a sales associate be verbally degraded and emotionally abused by their sales executive. Nothing was done about it and instead the sales associate was let go and the sales executive was given whatever they wanted.
When I spoke up about these issues I was told “that’s just the way it is” or the grass isn’t greener on the other side”. They want you to feel that COP is your only option so that they can continue to abuse and exploit you. I am incredibly thankful that I found a new employer before the pandemic because the horror stories that I have been told show that they have no interest in changing how they treat people. I attempted to be the change that I wanted to see, but at the end of the day, they did not want to change their ways because it was working for them. They will continue to profit by abusing, gaslighting, overworking, underpaying, and under-appreciating the people who help to keep the company alive.
To anyone still at COP, the grass IS greener on the other side.