Pros
Compensation. Restaurants near the office.
Cons
• Low quality and expensive projects: Projects are not poorly planned – they aren’t planned at all. Selling is always the top priority regardless of our ability to successfully deliver to clients. Scope, client timelines, resources, budget, and client needs are all actively neglected – as long as AHEAD gets the money. Every project consideration beyond the sale is rendered moot and superfluous at that point. Clients and team members are consistently set up for imminent project failure. Applicants should expect to be launched into the deep end of the pool with no regard for your ability to swim. The attitude is instead plugged leadership ears, a cold shoulder, and “you go figure it out” mentality. • Diversity: During company meetings when all levels of leadership are present, it is a veritable bingo card of caucasian, middle-aged, men. Minorities and females are unrepresented, especially in senior leadership. The workplace sexism is blatant, recognized, and promptly swept under the rug. The atmosphere generated and fostered is unsafe, and that is demonstrably acceptable in the eyes of leadership. • Work/Home balance: Highly discouraged. You will be expected to be available 24x7x365, for both internal AHEAD and external clients. This trickle-down leadership mindset is on a relentless upward trajectory, and employee wellbeing is the cost that AHEAD is willing to pay to make it happen. The “unlimited PTO” is a complete farce. • Culture: Non-existent. Years ago – we had a great companywide culture! Frequent office parties, conferences and summits, on sites, volunteer events, holiday parties – it was an amazing place to work. Unfortunately, in the wake of a new world order, culture has taken a nosedive. To such an extent that a culture committee now manufactures a culture newsletter in a last-ditch effort to give the appearance of a cohesive company. Current management does not listen to internal team members, as it is no longer an attractive business model to retain their quality consultants. These quality performers are leaving with an increasing velocity because they are taken advantage of. There is an employee exodus currently in progress of the top team members that are unwilling to be a casualty of this internal operational war. AHEAD will ask everything of you, reciprocate nothing, and then ask you for more. Without exception. Mental exhaustion, missed weekend soccer games, panic attacks, skipping family dinners – these aren’t one-off exceptions, they are the expectation and marching orders. Remote employment has recently been reduced or eliminated for all employees, in observance of an alleged “hybrid” model. • Gaslighting: Be prepared for manipulation at every level and department, particularly the “upskilling” of your skill set. Pro tip: company is now requiring all employees to be experts in every department of the company, and this mandatory coercive movement is being rebranded as “employee upskilling opportunities”. In reality, they are trying to make us appear to be the lean organization that we certainly are not (presumably in an attempt to get AHEAD acquired). In reality, AHEAD is creating an army of “Jack of all trades, and master of none”. Areas of expertise have been all but eliminated. AHEAD is instead opting to create an unscalable business model of delivering all projects very quickly and at a reduced quality, rather than scoping projects and retaining solid consultants. Applicants be aware that the position that you apply for/accept – will hardly match your day-to-day or project expectations. Always watch your back because nobody at this company ever will. • Company “Principles”: Recent leadership rhetoric changes have touted some new principles for employees, including but not limited to: follow all rules, can’t change rule #1, everyone is responsible for knowing everything, only make a mistake once, if a project fails – it’s on you, and always assume everyone at the company has good intentions. • Deferred Layoff responsibility: We were informed amid some recent terminations that if we don’t “work to improve the situation together – we run the risk of this happening again” from senior leadership. When things do go amiss, employees are the first ones placed on the sacrificial alter of failed internal initiatives.