Pros
There are a handful of smart, hardworking people at PenFed... that I suspect (and hope) will leave as soon as another opportunity comes along.
Cons
As soon as I arrived at PenFed for my first day, I knew I had made a huge mistake. I came to find out that I was completely misled in the interview process from beginning to end, which wasn’t surprising once I had witnessed my boss lie several times in various meetings by the end of my first week. From the facilities, to the technology, to the management team, to the benefits, PenFed is a chaotic nightmare. The systems are old and antiquated, the benefits are meager, and there’s a lack of accountability and planning that permeates the organization. The majority of the leadership team doesn't have a clue as to what they are doing, and are more focused on one-upping each other than leading their employees. There is absolutely no communication among departments, and due to poor planning and management, every project turns into a complete disaster. Even the simplest of tasks turns into a “fire drill” because there’s no clear direction. This is worsened by the unbelievable level of micromanagement from the top. Everyone is so far down in the weeds, nobody is making important decisions or providing a real strategy. In the short time I was there, I never saw a single thing, from large mergers to small one-off projects, go off without a hitch. Many senior ranking VPs are verbally abusive, discriminatory and disrespectful to each other and their staffs. There is a complete lack of respect for employees at the most basic human levels. I am still shocked when I think about some of the things I heard and witnessed. Meanwhile, VPs continue to hire “friends” who have zero expertise for the positions they are being brought in for. The nepotism at PenFed is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Complaints made to HR and management fall on deaf ears. PenFed also prides itself on having never laid off an employee, which, in my opinion, is completely absurd. When they have a low-performing employee, they usually just shuffle them around to a different department instead of cutting dead weight or evolving with the times. Even several members of the senior leadership team have rotated from department to department, with no expertise in any of the function areas. You have to do something blatantly illegal to be fired or let go. The benefits programs are sub-par, especially the PTO system. FTEs get a generous amount of time off, which they are required to also use for all Federal Holidays as well. So, if you want to take Labor Day off, you have to use PTO. In theory, it would work out well, because they give you so many days. However, in reality, that is not the case. Taking PTO, on a holiday or for vacation, was very much frowned upon. Employees are expected to work and be available on weekends, over holidays, and even in the event of personal emergency or family bereavement. In the department I worked in, we were even asked to risk our safety to come in during a blizzard, even though the office was closed and the building security team had asked everyone to stay home. If an employee would take time off, the managers would go around the office making comments about how that particular person was lazy or a slacker. Employees are treated like work horses, yet they aren’t provided with the equipment, resources or facilities required to do their jobs. There wasn’t even a functioning sink on my floor. We had to rinse our coffee cups in the bathroom. Compensation is VERY low for the market and wildly disparate from employee to employee. I was shocked to learn what my employees were making, especially for the DC metro area. In the end, I left PenFed as quickly as I could and even that was a total nightmare. For weeks my managers refused to accept my notice or tell my staff that I was leaving, and tried to convince me to stay by first denying all of my concerns and then claiming things were going to get better. Eventually they came to terms with my departure, at which point they refused to speak to me, making the transition awkward and difficult. However, their level of unprofessionalism was consistent with what I had witnessed for months, so can’t say I was surprised. PenFed is the epitome of a toxic environment.
