Satyr Steel

Review of Brookfield Global Integrated S...

The main things I didn't like about BGIS was the m...

The main things I didn't like about BGIS was the mixed messaging on nearly everything and how inept, clueless and childish most of the senior leadership team is. You're hired as a subject matter expert in your field, but yet you're told how to do your job and your suggestions are ignored. Senior leadership says do X, Y, Z, so you do it. Don't talk back or question anything and be ready for interrogation on a subject they know nothing about. Just say, "Yes," and let the communication flow one way...straight down from the top. The amount of projects I worked on that failed or were a complete waste of time after I suggested a better path or warned about potential risks were too many. It got to the point where I stopped saying anything at all because it wasn't well received. I did see a lot of success mind you, but not without its headaches.

I saw good people chewed up and spit out because their direct reports were ruthless. They leave or get fired while management stays and gets shuffled around. I saw one leader get moved around to at least four different departments in my time after they failed to deliver on absolutely anything. I would have been fired for such incompetence, but politics prevail at BGIS.

They handle terminations so poorly and distastefully that it's down right laughable. They're sharks. If you don't make their half-baked ideas a reality, you're not going to last long because you're making them look bad in front of their peers. It's a vicious cycle. Bad ideas are simply bad ideas. So, you end up future endeavored under the guise of "restructuring" when, in reality, you're just being throw under the bus. How many times in one year can a company restructure anyhow?

There's way too much silent politicking happening and the drama, wow. It's like a high school sometimes behind closed doors. Women are still talked over by men. Racial and sexiest jokes come out in meetings or under someone's breath that make people uncomfortable. People engage in extra curriculars before and after work instead of going home to family. You might get made fun of for something you don't feel confident about and you will definitely feel bullied for expressing concern. And this isn't coming from coworkers, it's predominantly management; the leaders of the company. Tone deaf, clueless and out of touch. Everyone is afraid of losing their job, so it goes uncontested, but boy is it ever talked about behind their backs. Don't report it to HR either. It gets filed under "Who cares". They don't even bother with exit interviews because ignorance is bliss.

Innovation is part of their tagline and their favourite buzzword, but I failed to see anything innovative on a daily basis. It was more of the same. Feed the idea that we're cutting edge to clients and staff, but operate like everyone else does. For instance, you're told that you can work from home because that's the image they portray through their marketing. Great in theory, but your direct report thinks you're doing nothing at home, so those opportunities are throttled. So, you come into the office with unassigned seating. First come, first served. Too bad there aren't enough seats in your department, so you overflow into other departments. Oh, you found a seat in another department? Well, your direct report will seek you out to give you grief for sitting there because they can't see you from their own desk.

The power sits in the hands of senior management and what they say goes. Nepotism is alive and well, maybe a little too alive because a substantial percentage of people who work at BGIS know an executive or senior leader directly. What those nepotistic hires don't know is how to do the job they were hired for.

If you have more dignity than I did, look elsewhere for work because everyone there has one foot out the door already just waiting for that new opportunity. And that's not the joke, the company is.