Pros
everyone who either knows about Kaiser from the outside or current employees know about the "historical" claim to superior benefit packages. There are a ton of really great people who work in the company. The "communal" decision making processes encourage and reward long-term friendships/partnerships that can be leveraged for advancement...which unfortunately is also a downside....Kaiser is no meritocracy.....
Cons
There does not seem to be a correlation to hours worked, how hard you work, success in your job...and advancement. There is a curious certification program akin to a kind of union environment that punishes high-achievers and rewards mediocrity. This certification program, however, is unevenly applied only to certain classes of employees namely those who are lower on the totem pole. If you happen to be a mid-level director and up you are "MYSTERIOUSLY" exempt. Bottom-line gripe: For some people in order to advance you must traverse their certifcation requirements for each level which translates that while mid-level folks and up HAVE no requirements outside of their normal job duties to advance and for everyone else you must not only (1) excel at your current job to a point where someone blesses you with the "right" to (2) satisfy their "certification" requirements. In KP, lack of TRUST by management toward staff is a major problem that creates a "your on THAT side of the railroad tracks" mentality where management preferences consultants over experienced staff. .....in fact the dirty little secret is that a lot of mid-level-and-up execs are/WERE these same consultants......so the fear about the inmates taking over the asylum makes the paternalistic control and structure of KP more understandable. So the fact that the number one complaint by experienced KP employees is that "management does not listen" is really a symptom of a larger issue that "management does not want to listen".