Pros
The office is beautiful. The architecture is modern and open, with lots of light and artwork. Generous PTO - if you have time to use it. Generous bonus around the holidays. Transparent communication about how the company is doing financially. There were quarterly meetings where the CFO would explain the numbers and how that affects the employees. Dansko is 100% employee owned, so the longer you work there, the more vested you are in the company. Opportunities to do volunteer work during work hours. Full time employees get 4 free pairs of shoes per year.
Cons
Marketing is a disorganized, hectic, and sometimes toxic environment. Zero communication from management. Assignments are worded vaguely and without details, presumably to give creative freedom. However, if the final product doesn’t match what the manager had in mind, you will receive radio silence until the day it goes live and then they tell you to start over. If anything falls through the cracks, it falls on the employees at the bottom of the totem pole. Employees are blamed when their managers “didn’t see” urgent emails. Upper management is threatened by friendships formed between employees. During my year at the company I never saw management face any repercussions for their cliquey and bullying behavior. Concerns voiced to HR will be listened to and discussed, but that conversation dies in the HR office. Marketing is understaffed. Certain individuals are doing 3 jobs at once, without any promise of a significant raise. Overall art direction from management was fickle and sporadic. It was always implied that this was the employees’ fault. Employees are not only expected to read their boss’ mind, but to predict the trend of their thoughts in the future.