Good company - Anonymous employee Clark Concepts Employee Review

Pam is a nice, well-intentioned person. Let's make that clear. She is not manipulative or catty. She seems like a good person who wants to do right by others, but… she severely lacks in the leadership and business ops department and it has major affects on this company. Though, there is free lunch once a week which is nice.

As a business owner, she is timid and a bad communicator. She tends to never address things head-on and will go out of her way to not confront problems that truly need to be addressed - if she does address them, it’s via email when she is literally just a few feet away in her office, notably passive-aggressive. She is either completely out of your business and has no idea what’s going on or is project managing and micromanaging something that she has no reason to be involved in (her time would be better spent on business dev) - there is no in-between. She tends to care about the smallest, most mundane things that do not contribute to the larger picture. Speaking of the larger picture - she has none. I remember when I interviewed, I asked her what her goals for the firm were, she replied that she had none and was just riding the wave. Now, there is not necessarily anything wrong with wanting to be a smaller firm that caters to local small businesses, everyone has their place, the problem is that she is contradictory in her behavior. She sets no goals but then talks about wanting to grow and open up new offices. You are left scratching your head. The employees never really know what is to come of the firm. There have been multiple occasions where there is no client work available and nothing in the pipeline, so everyone is kind of walking on eggshells wondering if they are going to be let go. But then she’ll also talk about hiring new employees and growing the business while the ones she currently employees are not billing. It’s bizarre. Pam is nice but not a leader. She does not inspire or push or challenge her employees. She generally keeps to herself and lets people be, which has its pros and cons. She makes odd decisions and doesn't just don't have a strong business sense. She frequently is unprepared and shows up to meetings forgetting what is required of her. However, this seems to be working for her as the only business she really gets (on her own at least, not piggy backing on someone else) are very small, tactical, unsophisticated projects that anyone could do. She is trying to position her firm as a marketing and communications shop, yet she knows nothing about either as she is a trained graphic designer. It just doesn't come naturally to her. This is not an insult to her, but more an example of the lack of perspective this firm has. Overall, this is not a bad place to work. But if you are looking for structure, interesting work, and career advancement, this is not the place for you.