Toxic work environment/culture - Anonymous employee Kent Employee Review

Kent is the worst company I've ever worked for in regards to how they treat their employees. Any place that literally terminates an employee on their first day back from paternity leave with no prior warning or performance improvement plan/timeframe because they weren't able to tie up a few loose action items due to their wife going into labor - I wouldn't recommend to anyone. It is no surprise to me that people routinely leave this company to work at other firms where they will be treated with the dignity and respect deserving of hard-working human beings. Misleading Job titles/lack of empowerment - I would say that my basic job duties were clear, but my job title and responsibilities were very misleading. I was promoted into a "Lead" role where it was directly conveyed to me that I'd be "leading" my own business unit and "managing" people if the business grew. However, my manager refuses to allow her employees the autonomy to communicate with their supposed client groups/projects they are tasked with being the point person for (without her being involved). Whenever the business grew or we got larger projects she would just hire more employees to report to her rather than give anyone beneath her management responsibities/support. Communicating Concerns at work - I found Kent to be a toxic environment where I didn't feel comfortable voicing concerns or opinion that didn't align with my manager's viewpoints or those of the HR Director. This was especially true of anything related to career advancement or job empowerment. If you have a disagreement with the wrong person HR will take action against you without investigating further or exploring the context of the incident. Confidential conversations are routinely shared as gossip among department managers (especially within the HR department) which leads to employees fearing the raising of any issues or creation of even minimal conflict as it could lead to HR action or termination. Opportunities for advancement - There were no opportunities for advancement at Kent in my department. In my experience, it's an intentionally flat organizational structure as Management in my group liked to take credit for and micro manage any high-level/visible projects that we were tasked with supporting. There were a couple of instances where in front of me my manager would say that she was personally gathering information for Operations to assist with project bids/proposals and then would take me in a room to ask to fill out the info she needed so that she could provide it to the people requesting it herself and take credit for my work. I did two of our annual "career conversations" meetings with my manager (an annual meeting employees are encouraged to have with their line manager to discuss their career goals and advancement). Once I realized that nothing I asked for/was promised would come to fruition if it involved taking responsibility or power away from my supervisor, I actually stopped asking to have these discussions (employees were tasked with initating these convos with their manager, but managers aren't held accountable for having these discussions - also backwards..). I knew they were pointless and just led to me being looked at as ungrateful if I asked questions about my career advancement. Most managers including my own feel more comfortable hiring and managing people that they've either worked with before or are not seeking career advancement. Work/Life Balance - I would say that Kent pay a lot of lip service to the concept of work/life balance, but I always felt like I had to be plugged into work while away on PTO or I'd be criticized when I returned for leaving minor loose ends. If my manager ever had to assist/support an action item while I was away she'd get annoyed despite purporting to be supportive of my disconnecting from work. In conclusion, I never imagined that I'd ever write a long-winded negative Glassdoor review about a place that I worked (especially one I loyally worked for almost 5 years at). However, there is a difference between a company having "disruntled" employees and one that acts with complete disregard for humanity and dignity towards loyal employees. I hope this review discourages anyone thinking of taking a position with this toxic company.