Caktus demonstrates a lack of attention to employee growth. And I have heard it mentioned that investing in an employee’s skills should be avoided, if there’s a risk they might employ those skills (at any point) to find a better job elsewhere.
A lack of respect for jobs and skills. Employees are frequently asked to assume extra jobs or skills not in their career path. For example: this Summer there was an internal push for a volunteer to become a Scrum Master, on top of their regular job. There was no extra compensation offered. There is an ongoing push for employees to take on c-suite responsibilities with again no additional pay.
No follow-through on agreements with employees. Example #1: employee offer letters stipulated that the initial engagement was for six months and would culminate in a formal review. After such review, Caktus would extend the offer or terminate. Multiple new hires either never received their six month review, or it was significantly delayed. Example #2: Annual reviews are part of standard documented practice at Caktus. However, an employee this year simply never received their review, even after asking for it and reminding their superiors multiple times.
Lack of engagement from the c-suite. Caktus’ owners often delegate crucial decisions or procrastinating on executive-level tasks.
For some, these symptoms might seem inconsequential. Sadly, for me they’ve accumulated to color the entire Caktus experience in a bad way. Earlier this year, the work from home policy was relaxed. Now the office is mostly empty everyday. For some people, this may be because the increased flexibility is preferred. But for me, coming into the office is a depressing experience and only reminds me of what used to be a good place to work.