The work environment is often very hostile and even abusive at times. Consultant successes are rarely recognized but even minor infractions and hearsay are given great volume in Slalom's negative-focuses review process. Several employees, myself included, have even endured personal attacks on our character and families as a result of perceived performance issues at work. Managers are instructed to downgrade employee ratings and peer-reviews are dismissed out of hand. The sales and leadership teams don't demonstrate a good understanding of much of the work they're selling—specifically user experience and custom development work—and tend to see all the practitioners of these disciplines as interchangeable despite their specializations. Much greater emphasis is given to "butts-in-seats" billable time than to the quality of the deliverables. Criticism and collaboration are often discouraged and the work, frankly, shows it. There are some incredibly talented people at Slalom that could be doing much better work in a more constructive and less hostile environment. The company is also driven by people who espouse, but do not live, work-life balance. The result is a difficult environment for employees with families or aiming to have families. There is also little or no room for career growth outside of the sales path.