To start, there are some great people in IT at this company, unfortunately none of them are in leadership positions. Leadership/Management in the department is inexperienced with no prior experience in management and it shows. Some managers are promoted solely on their seniority status within the company rather than merit. Others have the position because they are friends/family with current employees or ownership. There are managers who manage a department which consists of just themselves. Leadership has called meetings where the agenda was to pressure employees to submit positive reviews on company review websites such as this one. It seems that little thought goes into major departmental decisions and the decisions seem to be very erratic. The structure of the department is not productive nor effective and makes little sense towards any overall company objective. Overall management seems very out of touch with the needs of their employees or the needs of the company.
IEL does not have a dedicated designer or UI/UX person on staff and the quality of the work shows. Developers are left managing this aspect of the development. Leadership does not see this as a priority and would rather hire more developers to try to compensate for this. This often leads to delays during development or unusable deliverables.
There is not a lot of collaboration on the development side of things. It is often very difficult to get a hold of employees in which you are depending on to help with deliverables. Delays can take days, and even weeks before there is any assistance from another employee. This can lead to delays in development and sometimes leads to being embarrassingly unprepared during deployment causing the deployment to be called off completely.
Stability within this department is a big concern, with several restructurings and process changes over the past year which makes it hard for employees to find a rhythm and be productive. Management views this as a good thing and attributes it to the company's fast growth. In reality this stems from lack of direction and bad decision making.
The department has trouble attracting and retaining talent and there is a lot of turnover, especially with developers and the quality assurance department. Benefits and pay are a big part of this but the company is getting better in this area. However lack of professionalism and knowledge will continue to drive talent away.
Another big concern is the lack of tools to set employees up for success. There is very little feedback on performance and the company lacks the proper processes to promote or discipline employees. Employees are left wondering whether or not they are meeting the company's expectations and when they ask for feedback, it is rarely given. Quarterly reviews, when given, are just a series of questions and a recap of the previous quarterly review rather than feedback on the employees performance or standing within the department. There is a total lack of documentation and internal processes from an HR level, and no partnership from the management team to develop and build success for their employees. This is a negative attribute for any who are career driven.
The culture within the department is toxic. There is a lot of aggressive behavior exhibited and management does not seem to notice or lacks the ability to control it. Some employees are afraid to ask questions or raise concerns for fear of being ostracized. Meetings are not a welcoming environment if an employee has questions or does not understand the subject. There is push back when clarifications of requirements are asked for or when an employee raises a concern that an assignment is vague. Employees openly use offensive language in meeting settings including calling other team members ideas retarded, managers making jokes about AIDS and cancer, and using gay slurs. Leadership does not correct this on the spot, and whether it is addressed privately, it continues to happen. There is a fear of retribution for reporting instances like these as well.
Overall, the IT department, specifically the development side, is not recommended.
