TSP

2.0

Nov 20, 2018

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Entry level, find a way in! This is one of the best options that exists. There are a couple divisions and there is growth available in each one, with a very slim chance of moving from division to another. Usually, I would say get hired, then look to move, but it may be worth waiting if you have a chance to work for the division that you really want. Make sure you volunteer, even when it intimidates you, and get that experience! Co-workers are currently above par. Now, this depends on which group and I highly suggest trying to meet them during the interview process. These people will bend over backwards if you show that you actually listen and are trying. If you don't try, then they will still help and get very upset with you. See Co-workers in cons. :) Chances for experience are all over the place, but you have to want it. There are tools available direct and through the customers they deliver for. Make sure you take advantage of these and you can grow your knowledge substantially. If you are coming in brand new, this is a great place to develop knowledge and a network to allow you to move on to bigger and better things. There is internal growth and opportunities that the company has, but I will admit that it may be safer to move outside the company, especially if you have a family. See downsizing cons. Co-workers and experience! It is so good, that I have to say it again. There are some amazing people and opportunities here. Friends you can make and have for the rest of time, assumptions made about the after life. :) There is also the ability to grow yourself and get experience to vault yourself to other opportunities that would have been out of reach without TSP. I may not agree with the way upper management is currently operating, but those great co-workers include the amazing back office staff that takes care of the field. It's privately held, which allows for a lot of flexibility. This was present during my tenure and allowed for different people to make requests for the tools that would improve their ability to take care of the customers. You need to ask for what you need and make sure you make a business case, but you can have your time made substantially easier if you communicate. Great relationships with the customers and ability to network. You will see a con about coming in as a high end employee, but if you are able to make specific contacts, then it might not be a problem. There is heavy investment in relationships by someone. You just have to find the person that knows who you want to know. You can say no to opportunities. That doesn't mean the end of your career at TSP. Be honest if you can take on additional work or if you can't. They are responsive to this. Communication and metrics that you are held to aren't clear and employee evaluations are few and far between. This can be positive, because you don't have to worry about filling out a stupid eval if you are comfortable with your work.

Cons

You can say no to additional opportunities, but may feel pressured. The communication and metrics you are being held to aren't very clear, which means that you can never just know that it won't be held against you. Usually it will not be, but depending on your personality type that can wear you down with worry. Communication and metrics that you are held to aren't clear and employee evaluations are few and far between. I had 3 that I remember during over a decade. If you are worried about your performance, then this can be quite frustrating. The statement is that evaluations are constantly happening, but that is inaccurate based on my experience and the any employee that I have spoken with. Advanced positions, beware. I've watched a couple ideas that involved hiring multiple high end individuals, then not get the return they wanted and those people are laid off. This is also true of any new initiatives if you are a current employee. Make sure that your position is creating enough income or that you are taking care of preparing for your next potential move. Co-workers that are bad can stick around for months and months while you are struggling with all the excess work. If it isn't near a layoff time, which I watched 3, then make sure you are ready for OT or a hard conversation with your manager. This is especially bad if there is limited coverage for your position or area. Direct Manager is very important. You will hear about how others are treated, but make sure you know how your direct manager operates. The company remains agile by allowing a lot of flexibility by the lower management, but that can be an issue if you and your manager don't see eye to eye. Mine was awesome for most of my time there. I heard many stories of people struggling with There appears to be a focus on numbers and metrics around the time of the CEO swap in early 2017. I can't speak to the accuracy of this as I was never privy to these details. From what I saw while I was still there and hear from others, this is happening and communication is very limited. If you are employed there, make sure you figure out how to get a report on what value you bring to the company. That will keep you aware of if you bring in enough income to justify your position. Downsizing means very little notice and coverage. I can speak from experience that after a decade of service, I was given 3 weeks of severance with no head's up that it was even a potential. I am doing fine and have employment now. I wanted to wait until I was fully and securely back on my feet before writing this, because I didn't want it to be from a place of anger. That also allowed me time to talk to old co-workers about their experiences after I was gone. After over a decade with the company that called itself a family, being told that if there was ever to be downsizing I would be offered at least some alternative position within the company (didn't happen), and being given only 3 weeks of severance, I want to make the next part very clear. I was sent my letter indicating the end of my tenure and income from TSP and they highlighted that I had signed an agreement that I would not solicit any TSP clients. Now, I'm pretty sure that's not legally defensible, but that wasn't the point. I was told I was part of a family and told many others the same. Then, my ability to provide for my own family was removed with little coverage and it felt like a messy divorce when there was no need. It felt clinical and is why I'm wondering if the CEO change is the cause. (I only bring it up so that you can make your own decision with that potential clue.) This is perhaps the most sore piece of my tenure as I think of all the people I told that we are "actually" a family here and is the #1 reason I felt a glass door is required to make sure that there is some clear communication. (You can see from the length of this that I'm still sore on this area. I don't like being a patsy or hurting people or their career opportunities.) Downsizing communication is very poor. I asked if there was an issue with sending a good bye email and was informed that they would prefer to be the ones to communicate. I had no issue with that, but have found out from previous employees that they were never told of who was cut and assumed that I had just found a different job. Travel can be frustrating. The budges are constantly getting tighter and even staying within the vague allotment for dining can result in questions about specific choices, depending on your manager. It's one of the downsides of all that flexibility. You can be fully within the guidelines and still have to explain your dining or hotel choice. Or, you can go over the allotment and get no questions, depending on your manager. It is very worth talking to someone else that reports to the same manager that you will. Raises are something you have to fight for. Do not expect cost of living increases.

TSP Response

Thank you for this response — we really do appreciate it when employees, both past and present, take the time to share their honest experiences with us. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes not so much, but the candid and respectful way you laid your experiences out is genuinely appreciated. It’s easy to simply focus on the negative when your time comes to an end with any company; yet, you make a number of great points about the positives you experienced over your tenure with TSP. The career opportunities that present themselves at the company are both wide-ranging and ever-changing — many of those opportunities are dictated by client-specific requirements of those respective open positions. Some are entry-level, but many also require significant levels of experience given the nature of those positions — it simply all depends. We do pride ourselves on our people; after all, our product is our people. So to hear that your coworkers would bend over backwards for you speaks volumes. Granted, there can always be a personality here or there that you may not gel with, but that’s a reasonable expectation at any place of employment — and if there are ever any relationships that cause friction, we’d strongly encourage one or both parties to have a conversation with their manager to rectify that tension. We do have opportunities for new experiences and training. Through our employee intranet, we offer every employee free access to near-limitless free training opportunities through RockstarU. Whether it’s something non-work related, like learning photography, or a job-specific skill for a potential new career path, we encourage every employee to take full advantage of this opportunity. You bring up a very valid point — we are and always have been a privately-held family company. With that said, if we intend to be here well into the future, we must always be fluid, adaptable, able to respond to an ever-changing job market, and we must be able to evolve. We take things like our company culture very seriously, especially as we continue to grow and expand. We continue to conduct anonymous surveys and quarterly all-hands calls to continuously keep a finger on the pulse of our employees. In the eyes of some employees, we may not always remain the company that we started off as in 2002, and that’s OK — our commitment to our culture and employees stays just as strong now as it did on day one. We began with 4 people — now we have over 600 employees spread across nearly every state in the country and Canada. And as we grow, we evolve — progress means change, but we take strides forward with every one of our #TSProckstars in mind. You hit on another great point — communication. We encourage every employee to a conversation with their manager and ask them for a more regular cadence on communications — establish your expectations for them — that level of communication can only help to ensure everyone is operating on the same level. To help with accountability, a performance management module was released to our management team approximately 2 years ago. This system informs managers when they have an employee with a service anniversary and allows a review and feedback to be tracked between the employee and the manager. We stopped performing annual reviews years ago — the main goal in a successful performance management system is feedback, and that constant real-time feedback is far more valuable than a once-a-year short meeting that rarely, if ever, covers a year’s worth of experiences. We encourage open communication, continual feedback, formal and informal coaching, and adherence to one of our corporate values of “real conversations are welcomed.” Again, thank you for your candid review — we wish you all the best in your future endeavors and thank you for being one of our #TSProckstars!

Could be amazing, but know what you are getting into! - Anonymous employee TSP Employee Review

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