The are only two things keeping the great people around: 1. they don't have anywhere else to go, and 2. the entry level people are worth sticking around for.
They have a vision and they assume that letting us wear flip flops and occasionally bringing in a keg after 4pm is enough to justify crappy treatment of their people. They nickel and dime everything. It's one thing to be cost efficient, it's another to give someone a hard time about whether their department needs a working iPad or a team needing more positions/certain positions created.
To add insult to injury, the execs are so prideful, it hurts. If you brown nose, they love you. However, the moment things go south, they hope that by pretending everything is fine, that it's fine. Then when they decide that a problem is persistent enough to warrant their eyes and ears, the team of people who have been trying to get their attention all along get into trouble because "how could we have let it get so bad?" ... Well we were waiting for you to reply to our email. And when they do make decisions be forewarned that they will change their mind. But remember: it's not their fault, it's yours and they are more than happy to let you know in loud, explicit words just how much they feel you failed. But hey, after they are done tearing you a new hole, have a nice big meal and a happy hour on the house because they can't think of any other way to keep you from giving them the finger and walking out the door. HR nightmare, but what can you expect from such lovable guys who are all about creating a wonderful, engaging, open environment....
