Wolf in sheep‘s clothing that gaslights you
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
There were some really talented people, which I am glad to have met in my life. Many came from even worse employers. I hope they will manage to find a better, more caring employer, that treats them the way they deserve - because it‘s actually possible!
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
The way employees are being burned out and not valued. The worst thing I experienced was that management and some colleagues would make me constantly feel like I was not good enough and that I was the problem. Now, after having had opposite experiences and after some serious reflection, I can confidently say, that it was not a me-problem, but a Dept-problem. It was heartbreaking to see many of my colleagues crumbling under pressure or leaving because they didn‘t get the appreciation they deserved. I really hope Dept will learn how to treat people with dignity and respect.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Listen to your employees and be honest! The economy and the agency business are tough and we all know about it, so don‘t try to find weak excuses for firing people. Establish barriers that keep employees from being treated badly by clients. Do a proper quality check on leads and make them go through training. Ditch the whole declarability thing. Give specialists the autonomy to decline projects/ execute them under their own terms. Don‘t micromanage employees. Don't overdo it with the time booking and make sure employees have enough time for creative/mental breaks. Be realistic with salaries and make sure that everyone is paid equally. Make professional progress happen outside of client projects. Make people proud again of working at Dept and let them have fun!
Arbeitsatmosphäre
There is a nice office with good equipment. There was an open and positive vibe in the office - sometimes. This was often negatively influenced by restructuring announcements, people who got fired/quit, or clients/pitches that were lost. Also, many people never came back to the office after Corona, so it was only a few people that were there regularly.
Image
I can‘t speak for the other entities, but at least the Berlin office did not have a good image, neither internally nor externally. It was only living off the prestige of UK and NL offices.
Work-Life-Balance
Overtime compensation was possible, but client work was always prioritized. I had to work on the weekends and on bank holidays. It was also kind of expected/ common to be available outside of working hours. Even when I was sick, people expected me to write extensive handovers and to do work since there was often a shortage of staff. Going on vacation was a pain since there were not enough colleagues to take over your tasks. There were a lot of employees who went on sick leave because they were burned out or struggled mentally.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
Dept prides itself on the B Corp certificate, but funnily enough, it‘s a certificate that companies have to pay for. There is a festival once a year, where a lot of employees across the globe get flown into the Netherlands. Taking the train is the exception. There is an initiative that is called Dept Cares, dedicated to creating social impact, but the funds were cut. There were very few projects with social/environmental impact clients.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
Budgets for further education were cut. Promotions were scarce. They told me about a job option in another team, which I really wanted to pursue, but in the end the transfer wasn't possible due to restructuring.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Some colleagues were really great and turned out to be friends in real life, but I feel like that was a lot of being united in trauma. Then there were colleagues that were only serving their own interests. There was a lot of backstabbing and gossiping, which is also a natural outcome of a toxic workplace where employees do not feel valued or as if they had a secure workplace. Also, there was an insane employee retention, which made it very hard to build bonds.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
At Dept I‘ve had the worst experience with a manager in my entire career. This person was not suited for a leadership role and compensated for their lack of skills with micromanagement and authoritarian management which resulted in many people quitting and having mental challenges. Their behavior included false accusations, gaslighting, pretending to be busy, and also not supporting/standing up for their team members. This was not the only case at Dept of a manager being super toxic. The worst part is, that neither P&C nor Directors cared about our struggles. C level does not care about individuals and only sees you as a number.
Arbeitsbedingungen
The office and equipment are good and the remote policy was very flexible, which, I believe, changed by now.
Kommunikation
Especially management communication was very intransparent. I wish I would have been more involved in decisions, especially when they concerned my direct team and work environment. People were let go from one day to another without proper explanations. I heard things through the grapevine rather than stuff being officially announced, and if so, it was always glossed over and not honest at all. The slogan „Becoming the greatest agency in the world“ seems a bit extremist these days and also kinda generic.
Gehalt/Benefits
I was paid under average and had to fight so hard only to end up receiving nothing with the explanation that the budgets were tight. There was no leeway to negotiate whatsoever. Found out that there was a colleague, who got hired later, and earned way more with less experience. Being promoted is almost impossible. They had salary ranges, which were treated as ”aspirational“.
Gleichberechtigung
The only woman who was part of the managing board was let go. Apart from that, the workforce was quite diverse with a lot of people coming from different backgrounds. Some older male colleagues regularly make sexist comments and it‘s generally a place that benefits extrovert people that are loud and put themselves on a stage.
Interessante Aufgaben
There were quite some interesting tasks and brands to work for, it is however out of your hands, who and how long you‘ll work for a client. Working for the same client for more than 1,5 years was common. Specialists and Account Management work against each other. Project managers are emotional wrecks that look down on specialists. Some clients are really nice and friendly, others are absolute hell and treat you like a personal servant. The latter case doesn‘t bother management as long as there is enough money behind the project.