The original founder lost his ownership through the hands of the CEO and President with some very shady legal work and bullying. Since that time, the atmosphere has deteriorated dramatically. The stories are hard to believe unless you have worked there for a few months, then it all begins to make sense. The CEO and President are more and more erratic and inconsistent. The decisions they make are more a result of their ego than what is best for Probar. There is no plan or vision for Probar. The executives had some meetings to communicate their vision and direction of the company. All the staff got out of it was they will decide what they want to do when they decide to do it.
Be very careful with these guys. They are charming and intelligent, but they are also manipulative, dishonest, and show no remorse.
I would advise anyone who spoke to me to study this company outside of the sales pitch in the interview before making a decision. Interview former and current employees. Read the reviews and ask the interviewer to respond to the reviews. If you are still considering employment there, here are some things you need to take into consideration and some helpful hints:
1. Involve an employment attorney. You will be required to sign a Non-Compete and Non-Disclosure agreement after you have accepted the position. It is common to sign a non-compete or NDA in most businesses, especially if you are in a management position or a position where you have access to important information. What is not common is how extreme and one sided these agreements are. Even base rate employees also have to sign extreme versions of them. If you are fired or if you quit, they will execute the agreement in full, even though their legal case is not executable. They will do this with a letter from their lawyer. These agreements affect your opportunities post Probar, so take this very seriously. My advice before accepting any position at Probar, you need to have a lawyer review any documents you will be required to sign. This is important. Most lawyers give free advice up to a half hour to browse over them and discuss highlights. This is more then enough time for any employment lawyer to raise the red flags for you. The executives do have the money to legally make your life miserable, even though you have done nothing wrong. Leaving Probar isn't easy (weather you quit or are fired) and they will continue to harass you. Before you accept any position, get the legally binding paperwork of all kinds from them and have it reviewed by a professional!
2. There has been significant turnover in senior leadership recently. The leadership that was there to buffer the Probar staff from the President and CEO have resigned recently. The CEO and President micro-manage down to the very base level of employee. They often will make decisions based on personal bias or partial information about an employees hiring or firing without input from the employees direct reports. This leads to a lot of "surprise" terminations. They always have a target that they want to get rid of. They will find a candidate to replace you, and then fire you when that candidate has accepted and is ready to start. If you question them on the unprecedented rate of employee turnover during your interview, they will tell you they are cleaning house to make room for people like you. The problem with this is, they have been cleaning house for years...and years….and years.
3. Understand your salary. They will lowball you. They will make you feel greedy and they will act offended when you counter for a fair salary. They will try to get you to make and emotional and quick decision. Be prepared. You know what you are worth. You have done your homework. Stick to it. They are difficult to get meaningful raises from in the future. If you are not comfortable with your starting salary, you never will be, no matter how many years you work there.
4. The culture is a story, not reality. They will tell you about all the activities and fun the PROBAR team has outside the office. These would be great team building activities if they were voluntary. Even though these activities are "voluntary", those who say they do not wish to attend will be pressured to sign up. Those who do not attend normally get that target on them to be replaced. It doesn't matter how hard you work and what a great job you've done with your job. If you skip the events, something’s wrong with you and you've got to go in their eyes. Your participation weighs very heavily in the end of year review.
5. The Core Values are something they will sell to you to show what a great culture they have at PROBAR. They are words posted on the walls of Probar and nothing else. The one core value that is followed is Big Steps, Small Footprint, that’s it. The CEO and President do not live the other values to any degree in their professional or personal lives.
6. The CEO and President have prejudices against certain types of people. Personalities that may be introverted or shy and people who are not fit enough to run or hike long distances or who do not eat like them are targeted. Sadly, this pushes people beyond their limits at times for the sake of their jobs. One example of many, there was a group of about 30 employees hiking in Southern UT on a 17-mile hike. The terrain was rough and the temperatures were very hot. Some employees had serious symptoms of heat exhaustion. Some staff stayed with them, kept them hydrated, made them take breaks in shady areas, and kept their spirits up. As serious as their conditions were, some of those employees were questioning other employees if their heat exhaustion symptoms were going to affect their employment. Let that sink in for a moment. If you are overweight (their definition is very different from a medical definition of overweight), they will “mold” you and “push” you to become more like them. If you aren’t exercising regularly and ready to talk about it, they will hold a grudge against you.
7. The executives do not understand this type of business. They have had knowledgeable staff in several positions that have proven themselves in this industry in other companies. Unfortunately, the executives whose experience is real estate development and wood shop do not listen to or give ownership to knowledgeable staff in their areas. All decisions or plans come from the executives, and staff disagrees with their decisions 80-90% of the time. The executives’ focus is often in areas that do not improve the company or the work environment, and proper resources are generally pinched to a very minimum. One easy example is the new building. The office area is huge. I think it’s up to about 1/3 capacity now with staff all crammed in front the executives’ offices so they can keep an eye on staff, even though there is a lot of open office space away from their offices. The operations area is small and cramped, and over capacity. The building was built more for show then functionality and a comfortable, safe work environment.
8. The executives cannot relate to or understand their staff. The CEO has been working with contractors his entire life. This is why he treats employees the way he does, like contractors. The President worked with his family in their wood shop. He is learning everything from the CEO. I don’t know of one company directive that came from him. Another frustration at Probar is you cannot talk to just one of them. They always pair up for conversations with employees so they can feed off each other and “win” the conversation a sincere employee or manager is attempting to have with them. To control the staff, they do manage using fear of termination or legal ramifications as a tool.
9. They are paranoid. They believe every employee will screw them over if given the opportunity. They don’t trust anyone. They keep a lot of unnecessary secrets from the employees. They are naïve in the sense that they think employees do not know what really is happening in the company. They are very disconnected, as all employees know and understand all the points I’ve made above, as well as the other reviews on glass door. They know the story of the original founder, the true Probar story. They know how the executives got into the positions they are in. The employees know that they are a means to the executives end. They know that the executives have no loyalty towards their employees and only make decisions based on their own self-interest. They know to tell the executives what they want to hear, but never the truth out of fear of being targeted. The executives are incredibly disconnected from the state and reality of their workforce.
10. Nepotism. The executives family member who works in a senior director level position, a very sensitive issue at Probar. They are condescending to their employees, he takes all the credit from their work (even puts his name on it where his employees name was), but blames everything that goes wrong on them, even though it was their decision. He has the job because of his family member who is an executive. Everyone who works directly for him ends up fired or quits in a very short time. Of course, the executive staff can’t stop saying enough about him, or giving him awards and touting his accomplishments publicly. It is evident that they are fully aware of this problem however, and each time his department falls apart and things get out of control, they move him to another. This is a major cause of anguish throughout Probar.