You can feel the growing pains about to take place - Associate Vice President Personal Capital Employee Review

When I first came on board it was impossible to not become intoxicated by the environment and the potential that this firm could become. Now almost two years later I'm scared that I may have drank too much Kool-Aid. For example, the compensation/incentives are about what you would expect from a start-up (read: average to just below average). It's *highly* commission driven. No worries there, I've been a hard worker and consistently finish in the top 30% each month, enough to make a healthy living. However, we sell ourselves on being an "industry disruptor" which is completely true, and you will have statistics shoved down your throat at every chance. Yet there is nothing ever produced on how our CLIENTS are benefitting. Essentially we are trained to say over and over again "Hey, everyone else is doing it, why wouldn't you?" That is literally the worst reason to turn over $100k+ in assets. Secondly, morale isn't poor per say, but I would say it's becoming more cautiously pessimistic. Personal Capital is just raising a few flags on what its actual growth looks like as it benefits employees. Minor rumblings that perhaps 1. this is an excellent tax write off endeavor or 2. things aren't as rosy as they appear. These narratives could be completely false, but for a company that's seemingly so successful, the transparency has become concerning. Last, and this is most important for future candidates to consider. The rate that people get kicked to the curb is becoming really alarming. People aren't ignorant or immune to these activities. I'm not talking about consistently tardy or underperforming employees either (although certainly that exists). I can think of three employees in the last two months that were incredibly friendly, well-meaning and high performing individuals and the next day they're just gone. Bam. Fired. Now I'm not in HR so for all I know they were stealing money from the company or said something wildly inappropriate about someones mother but there's no coaching no warning, boom, just gone. I find it very hard to believe that this is just a coincidence of a few bad apples. There were solid indicators that these were good employees. This has bred a culture of fear. Prior posters are completely correct, Team Leads have their "crew" (thankfully I think I'm good with mine) and if you're not onboard you will either be neglected, released from your duty or constantly "coached" with no real feedback. These are the growing pains of a rapidly growing firm but whats so frustrating is they are so easy to fix: 1. Transparency to your brilliant work force, we've statistically done so much to be team players and grow 2. Stop breeding a culture of fear by firing solid talent, it's frankly appalling 3. If you're going to micro-manage the underlings, start micro-managing the entire firm. Choose to either put your big boy pants on like a multi-national or maintain your chill start-up vibe. You can't continue to utilize the worst characteristics of both, which is what is currently happening.