Pros
Excellent working environment; cultivated a friendship with many peers that will last a lifetime; management acknowledges high performance by employees even if the employees are unresponsive; quality benefits package from health to tuition reimbursement; improved training and development especially for new hires; a real sense of independence and autonomy throughout the work week and especially when traveling; job security (applicable to my former department); clearly defined goals and objectives in most cases; high quality of life and work balance; diversity of assignments and for a first job out of college an excellent platform to gain valuable work experience
Cons
SALARY, SALARY, SALARY! According to various reputable sources, employees are paid considerably below the national average despite performance, experience, location and output. The bonus structure and annual merit increase is an insult and it is nearly impossible to energize the workforce if they are receiving wages that are not commensurate with their productivity. After factoring in the inflation rate and the increase in the cost of living on an annual basis-even after an increase in salary and bonus payout-your purchasing power as a consumer may actually be LESS than the previous year because the wages do not keep up with inflation and the cost of living. How do you expect employees to have a shared investment and sense of commitment to a company where you may potentially earn less in real terms than the previous year although your output exceeded standards? Furthermore, the salary issue appears to fall on deaf ears because the annual review process is simply read from paper and employees have no real sense of their financial future because salary is considered strictly confidential even between the management teams and should be swept underneath the rug for another 12 months. If you provide the workforce with a comfortable salary (and award top performers appropriately) and attempt to retain top talent and the employees still don’t respond with fewer mistakes, a positive attitude and a true zeal for the continuing success of the company, you let them go! Some employees at Yellow Book view the position just as a paycheck and are complacent in their position (i.e. they have an overall negative effect on the department) and it could be useful to remind employees that you are paid to actually work (albeit at a minimal rate). In a metaphorical example, in many instances it appears that the left hand has no clue what the right is doing at Yellow Book and the company is struggling to redefine itself with the proliferation of complex internet based advertising products at the expense of the declining publication. From a business acumen perspective many decisions are made at upper levels that are duplicative and not cost effective. Some policies should be examined in more detail although some employees demonstrate difficulty in acting like professionals which is not the fault of the management team. Overall, great experience but if you don’t pay your employees a respectable and fair wage they will either leave the company in due time or not work as efficiently or determined as they otherwise would unfortunately. This ship may be at sea with a damaged rudder and taking in water but it is not too late to turn it around.
