Great place to live, unrealistic expectations of management, no work-life balance
Pros
If I had a loved one who needed assisted living, I would strongly consider Atria for them. In my experience, most of the employees truly care for the residents and the activities, meals, trips, care, and events are excellent. Many of the residents were wonderful. Sense of camaraderie with other managers in the same position in other communities, if only because we were all fighting the same hopeless battles.
Cons
- No sense of teamwork, more like a sense of "watch your back" among the managers. It was an environment of "if you want it done, do it yourself." - Unbelievably long hours. It is expected, company-wide, that Atria comes first, before anything else, which means giving up many weekends, vacations, and family time. No sense of work-life balance. - Regional management regularly places unreasonable demands on managers, who are already overworked, then get upset when the department is over budget or in overtime. - The resources available (labor hours, budget) don't match up to what is expected of programs. Even a small community needs a workable budget and more than a skeleton crew. - Constant turnover, especially in department management, as people get burned-out or can't meet the company's profit expectations. - Money seems to be more important than care to regional and corporate management. I fear this will only get worse as the company expands. Thank goodness the people on the front lines have hearts for the residents. - I would say it was just the community I worked in, but trust me, it's not. I wish I'd paid more attention to the GlassDoor reviews when I was interviewing with Atria.