Texas Legislative Council Reviews

Divisions are extremely siloed, and communication plans and services from different divisional teams seem ridiculously detached from one another for an agency this size. Executive leadership is politically appointed, so strategic planning and succession planning is problematic. Upper level managers earn their role through working harder than anyone else, not by being the best managers or helping other staff develop. The only way to move up (and earn more money) is to wait patiently for someone to retire.

- Base pay can't compete with private sector, making it hard to attract/retain the best - A lot of long-timers waiting out retirement, doing bare minimum, can't/won't be removed and they know it; others really do care and work hard, however - Most managers are very good, respectful, and competent; some are much less so - luck of the draw - They like to hire and promote internally - which is good - but results in some unqualified people in those positions oftentimes - Technology is modernizing, culture is really not. Extreme siloing, red tape, legacy systems - All this results in a lot of slowness, disorganization, confusion - Mandatory 9.5% salary to pension fund, 10 year min vest; benefits slashed repeatedly unless grandfathered in meaning new hires are compensated a good amount less. Old-timers set for life, then pulled up ladder (often the case in public sector sadly) - Subpar/depressing workspace underground for many employees - say goodbye to the sun and hello to depression in there - On-call/legislative session can be brutal long hours; sessions keep getting longer and more polarized; no overtime pay, just a weak substitute called comp time