Managers with no formal management training and no idea how to be an effective leader, advocate or mentor for their direct reports.
Clique-ey staff who audibly gossip about fellow colleagues on the office floor, sometimes one desk away from the subject of their conversation.
Seemingly frequent employee turnover and loss of business due to poorly run accounts and underwhelming mid- to upper-level staff.
No work-life balance paired with below standard pay.
Individuals in leadership positions who are discriminatory or engage in forms of harassment.
Large chance of getting stuck on an awful account mix with no opportunity to voice your opinion or interest in other pieces of business.
Opportunity for growth is completely hit or miss -- no consistency across accounts.
Jealousy, un-friendly competition and in-fighting among the practice.
Perfection in your actual day-to-day is not valued if you aren't also brown-nosing your more senior colleagues.
Encouraged to collaborate across practices/specialties (mostly as a way to keep all revenue in house, i.e. using Edelman Creative Network instead of an external design vendor), yet working relationships across practices are notoriously bad/difficult.
Overall, a negative atmosphere as a result of rude and lackluster people.