Pros
We have some amazing people working at the company who are very dedicated to the mission of the company. We have excellent diversity and inclusion programs and we are making excellent progress in that area. We do have some very good leaders who are working hard to make this company successful, who support their employees and give them what they need to be successful and advance, but not everyone is fortunate enough to have a leader like that.
Cons
You have to be identified and connected in order to get ahead for the most part. The "high potential" leadership candidates know who they are and the company is very careful to provide them with opportunities to keep them engaged and advancing as the company knows they have transferable skills that they can take anywhere. Many people who are high performers and who have been for some time remain invisible because they haven't been identified as high potential leadership candidates and they don't get interaction with the people who can help them progress in their careers, or their leaders are unable or unwilling to help them. There are some leaders who try to help, but are stymied because the company is very inflexible in many ways. When prices are low, budgets are cut and hiring for new positions are put on hold. That is very short term thinking and doesn't help us prepare for the future adequately, as it makes it very difficult for employees to see a good future with the company. There seems to be few opportunities to progress organically in many roles (unless you are a high potential candidate and promotions seem to happen even if your role really hasn't changed) and it seems the only way to get ahead is to jump from job to job. It's very hard to obtain the next job when hiring is frozen again and everyone is told to take their pencils out and make some cuts in spending. While it can be a good thing to jump from one job to another, practically it is very difficult for most outside of the high potential group, because individuals may be missing some of the key things to progress to that next level or position, but are not given the opportunity to gain that experience. For example, you could be wanting to make the jump to a manager position, but the manager positions indicate that they are seeking candidates with 3 years of experience supervising others, which an individual can't obtain without already being a manager.