Recognize the Red Flags - Anonymous employee WPG Employee Review

Washington Prime Group has single-handedly been the most eye-opening company in many ways other than positive.  The red flags have been there all along, but the false sense of optimism often lures people in.  The amount of turnover, poor morale, burnout, and lack of employee enthusiasm should be enough to paint the picture, but if not, I’ll outline some other key factors.  Cliques, exclusion, and gossip within departments have left employees feeling alienated and disliked. It has also led numerous employees to the point of quitting, solely because they felt they didn’t belong. And it’s no secret that the lack of diversity within the company has also played a role in this. WPG has attempted countless times to promote diversity, yet most people of color have quit within just a few months. Let it also be known that the “diversity and inclusion committee” is almost entirely made up of white, upper leadership members. In tandem with the amount of turnover, the company lacks the ability to construct clear paths for employee growth and promotion. Departments are constantly undergoing restructuring, therefore making it immensely difficult to understand where your career is headed. And of a lot of this stems from entitled leadership - not being respected or heard, not being valued for your work, needs not being met, and most importantly, not being compensated fairly. Uncertain boundaries lead to chaos. You need to start with structuring by clearly and transparently defining areas of responsibility, policies, and processes. The leaders, and the entire management team themselves, should be a model of ethical behavior for the team.  If you’re looking to avoid feeling overlooked and under-appreciated, this isn’t the place for you. If you’re looking to gain a promotion within a few years, don’t expect Washington Prime Group to outline the climbing ladder for you. One of the leading causes of employee burnout is driven by unreasonable expectations from leadership, including but not limited to, late nights, working weekends without compensation, little to no communication on important matters, and the idea that asking questions shows signs of weakness and distrust. Understand that the role of a leader should be to create an environment in which great ideas can happen, not come up with all of the ideas themself. More importantly, the organization has been governed by fear. Teams are guided by fear, not confidence, causing an unwillingness to ask questions of superiors. What often comes from this is the hesitance to want to try anything new which then results in creativity and progress grinding to a halt. Be prepared to encounter things being communicated publicly drastically differing from things being shared privately between colleagues. Ever had a pre-meeting to prep for a meeting? People not talking when you ask a sincere, open-ended question? People keeping their heads down and saying everything is fine with no real constructive feedback? These are just some of WPG’s inner communication danger signs. Additionally, the expectation of work culture has been corrupted. Culture should not just consist of perks and happy hours. It isn’t about the free parking near the office. It’s the way employees work. The expectation of 8 am & 5 pm meetings, constantly being scheduled over lunch hours, a false sense of urgency, and improperly scoped projects - these all impact the culture within WPG. With the never-ending fast-paced deadlines, there is no time to reflect. There is no time to have a strategy led by data. There is no time to run constructive retrospectives, postmortems, or after-action reviews. There is no balance of understanding customer needs with campaign build-outs. Aesthetics has stronger importance over solving problems.  And with frustrations, most individuals would hope to rely on Human Resources to assist in solving dilemmas and properly addressing concerns. But WPG’s HR Department always fell short of this. Sure, they would let you voice concerns, but if you were hoping for a resolution to come from conflict, they were everything but reliable. As a firsthand witness of countless matters including anything from sexual harassment to toxic leadership, nothing led to change. All in all, look elsewhere to further your career. There are many other workplaces where you will find value, positive impact, and relevance.