Pros
An excellent education on how "not" to manage culture
Cons
Screen shot this review as Creative will likely attempt to have it taken down shortly as they have several others. Senior Leadership cares absolutely nothing about staff who are subjected to daily abuse by managers. Hostile work environment doesn't even come close to describing this hellhole. Women are treated terribly, talked down to, passed over and generally dismissed. Managers openly refer to junior staff as disposable and HR is nothing but a mouthpiece for leadership. The company has serious problems on the program management side with a number of their projects at risk. They cut corners that shouldn’t be cut, hide fraud and corruption and have mastered smoke and mirrors. That in itself it is unnerving for anyone responsible for managing programs but the real problem; however, lies in their corporate office. A palpable, toxic culture is nearly crippling. Ask anyone who’s left, or even someone who’s still there (if you can find a safe place to talk). The company is constantly fighting to have their negative reviews taken down because rather than face the reality and try to fix their problems, Creative would rather burn more resources to hide the truth. Human Resources is the worst offender because they are on the front lines and should be the ones to help, but they simply tow the party line and brush everything under the rug. As such, Human Resources has become laughingstock and is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the executive leadership. There is no regard for confidentiality, so no one dares bring their concerns to the table for the real risk of being tossed out and having their name smeared. HR leadership is gossip machine so the wise have learned to keep their concerns hidden. It’s a mean-girl culture on steroids and Human Resource owns that game. If want to stay anonymous you can try to submit your concerns through our ethics hotline but just know it will just go straight to HR where it will die a swift death (only after they try to track you down). You could listen to all of this and think that surely there must be something that keeps people there, but the reality is that they don’t keep people. The place is a revolving door with staff leaving every day to go to real companies and chomping at the bit for the first opportunity to dump this place If you’re able to overlook the people problems (good luck with that), you’ll then be drawn to the dismal working conditions. Outdated office space with stained carpets, de-laminating desks, dirty walls. In short: a sad, dark place but wait! There’s more: Even if you try to immerse yourself in work to distract from the BS that surrounds you, you’ll meet your next challenge because Creative doesn’t even provide office supplies so most people resort to picking the office carcasses when people leave which luckily is every couple of days. There can be some nice finds if you’re fast. You could net yourself a stained mouse-pad or even a Rolodex. Some people leave so fast you might even find some food. Benefits are a joke. Healthcare is made unaffordable for families, but this is likely by design. Creative’s leave policy is outdated and stingy at best and they still haven’t yet figured out how to trick staff into believing that there’s flexibility on the horizon. All of this while their competitors leave them in the dust. It’s a truly miserable place but what makes it worse is knowing that they don’t care at the top. A former creative employee tried to warn me about the company before I accepted the role, describing their style as “blind arrogance sitting atop a smoldering turd” and they were certainly correct. You have let your staff down and you should be ashamed. Don’t take my word for it either. If you’re seriously considering coming to Creative do yourself a favor, go to Linked-in, find someone who’s worked here and ask them. The lucky ones that have gotten out (there are plenty) will happily tell you what a hole it is and will recommend you stay clear. From there the ball will be in your court save yourself some pain and go with a stronger company a real company.