Pros
Larger established clients, driven people
Cons
Although there are many grerat individuals at Davis Elen, it is with heavy heart I write the following: Old thinking. Assembly line creative shop with little original work. Very good at working with client's national templates to drop in a local offer. Style over substance seems to be derigeur. Management could be described as stolid. Unfortunately, dimminishing some good client service and talented people, a cloud shades a lot of the positives. Unfortuntely, the culture is more than willing to look the other way while protecting inappropriate behaviors, especially ones leading to a hostile work environment. Pervasive complicit culture of covering up behaviour that would not be accepted elsewhere. In this age of not accepting such borish behaviour it was high time the following observations be shared. From blatant sexism, sexual harassment to abusive behaviours, HR was complicit if not instrumental in allowing serious corrections from being made. Although HR was not always involved as senior managemment would handle issues their own way. Serious charges were never met with serious review, other than how to smooth over incidents versus correcting from the behavior from repeating. I was witness to lots of bad behaviour, including unwanted sexual advancement and repeated predatory behaviour. One well establsihed management figure's reputation preceded them and unfortunately lived up to the billing. That person routinely burned through junior talent and it was reported with 4 different people that those 4 left because they did not accept his advancements. What boss gives a report a credit card with instructions to buy the boss underwear and tells report to buy a pair of shoes for herself? How about pervasive intimidation for female employees to cut off their maternity leave? Person, in this case creates an atmosphere where everyone under him is afraid to speak out without consequences including constant intimidation and deep mood swings. Under this oppressive system, fear of dismissal or reprisals rules the day. Who wants to go to work to be shout at or on the other hand being given the silent treatment? One manager buys everyone off with tickets or allowing you to be in his good graces with not so subtle threats to 'dummy up'. People have been trained to just dismiss the bad behaviour as 'Oh that's just _________'. Some women are in higher positions, but this is the exception, not the rule, and does not curb the pervasive 'old boys club' atmosphere. I've been witness to illegal hiring practices. Like when evaluating female hires the internal comment usually came up-'Hope they dont just join us and get pregnant then we have to pay them to have a baby'. Of course this was not in front of HR, but the comment was pervasive and often repeated. There are many examples of supervisiors not shielding employees from bad client behaviour- expecting junior staff to look the other way from lecherous behaviours or compromising posityions. Keep in mind, the harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer. Other examples of poor management include expecting junior staff to carry on while looking the other way while senior management has repeated substance abuse issues affecting everyone involved. (One instance of higher up getting arrested twice in a year for DUI, lots of chaos, unexplained absences and client management to be covered up). Bullying behaviour and intimidation is the norm. It is unfortunate that Davis Elen does not prioritize the creation of a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to their written core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender.