The difference between actual operations and the narrative put into the marketplace is shocking...
Where to begin? CTC doesn't actually care about client success, or show basic care for their employees. They hire recent college grads and scare them into writing Glassdoor reviews on their first day, if you are curious why there’s so many unbalanced and vague 5 star reviews. This place shatters confidence, has the most unprofessional/inexperienced management and is ripping off clients left and right.
Disloyal: The company recently laid off the creative and web development team without any warning in addition to other media buyers and managers. Want to know how they chose which buyers to lay off a few days before Christmas? The CEO messaged all of the team leads one night to make a list of names of the people who they would want on their team from highest to lowest, and then he fired the bottom two from the list the next day. These are the childish games and humiliation you sign up for when you work at CTC.
Clients and teams set up to fail: They overload you with clients until you are at your absolute breaking point. CTC has a system of churning and burning clients by promising clients the world in the sales process and then ultimately falling way short on expectations. The contracts that the clients sign are so vague and PURPOSEFULLY MISLEADING of what our services actually provide. We constantly have clients calling us demanding for what was rightfully promised in their contract. Management will tell you your options are to go and up-sell the client for more money or else you will be forced to try and execute the deliverables on your own with literally zero budget. Once the client inevitably quits, management will blame you personally for losing a client instead of taking any responsibility that the contract & what was promised to the client in the sales process was entirely misleading. If this isn’t the definition of bait and switch, I don’t know what is.
Lack of identity: The direction of the company constantly wavers. Decisions that have massive effects on employees are given very vague explanations with minimal disclosure and rampant excuses. Every client gets “the talk” at least once a quarter about a new company direction, which inevitably comes with a change in contract and new point of contact (and surprise, we have to ask them for more money!). The agency relies heavily on only a few clients, making it nearly impossible to adjust or avoid layoffs if a client opts to switch agencies. This negatively effects the bottom line and department stability, yet the agency is quick to boast that they are always hiring! Which leads me to my next point…
Constant turnover: CTC has very high turnover so hiring is basically an ongoing task. I find it disgusting that they flaunt hiring efforts over social media as if it’s a good thing, but it’s the direct result of people leaving the agency or good workers being laid off. It’s truly a revolving door of employees and clients. Expect to have a new team, work on new clients, and report to a new manager every quarter. I’ve had 3 different bosses in less than a year - each new boss worse and more clueless than the predecessor. The constant changes at the director and manager levels forces employees to adjust to new visions and strategy overhauls, often leaving employees in the dark. “Thriving” agencies do not experience this level of client and employee turnover. CTC has fired loyal employees left and right because the agency has deplorable financial management. It's really sad to see what used to be a great agency turn so savage to their employees and unorganized.
Incompetent Management: Fundamentally, leadership is terrible. Many “leaders” are highly incapable of their roles. Management is laser focused on short term optics with no thought of building a sustainable system or strategy to grow. It’s a strange world at CTC where the least experienced in a discipline will suddenly become your boss or manage an entire department without any prior experience in that role. Makes it impossible to ask your bosses for help or to get any feedback because they have never done your job before or know any of the technicalities of what you’re suppose to do. Management has never built a successful Facebook ad or know the first thing about media buying. There's no one left in leadership that has actually generated revenue or knows anything about e-commerce in general, and any remaining talent on the teams is destined to leave soon. This lack of knowledge from managers means that the entire client work load is transferred to the worker bees (who are ill paid and ill treated) with zero direction or guidance. It’s 100% likely that your manager has zero clue how to do your role. If you’re stuck or need training, you’ll have to rely on your peers or risk drowning on your own.
No clear path for growth: If you’re on a team and not a manager, there is no clear path for growth. I’ve never worked at a company that practices favoritism to “friends” and politics as much as this agency. It's truly not what you know at CTC, it's who you know. Merit is seldom the reason for growth or positive movement. The team members that have been able to move up based on merit and not friendships have been able to do so by literally dedicating their lives to CTC by sacrificing their well-being and personal life. If you are lucky enough to get a promotion, your salary increase will be underwhelming.
Zero work life balance: To say that employees are burned out is an understatement. CEO has said in many company meetings that work should be your life, and there is no such thing as work-life balance. A red flag is that all team members are expected to work in the office often 10-12 hour days (you eat lunch while you work at your desk). When the CEO even bothers to make it in the office, he vehemently avoids addressing any of the issues going on with the company. Upper managers are only required to come into the office on Monday and Fridays, so basically the teams are left alone in the office all week to fail on their own. The expectation is that a team member is working 50-60 hours a week, yet you only get paid for 40. The pay is below market value and there is no work-life balance. Not to mention you will have to pick up responsibilities way out of your job description.
Toxic work environment:
Overall the CTC management style is a blame-culture that begins with the senior managers that trickles down to team members. Management is reactionary and handles situations based on personal biases. Egos run high at CTC so either you are in the "circle" brown-nosing the CEO or left by the wayside. Many people compare the culture of CTC to a cult, and sadly that isn't terribly inaccurate.
Don't get hypnotized by the benefits of PTO and “tell me your dreams” therapy and parties because they make room for those perks by sacrificing competitive salaries and the quality of client services. Get ready to get screamed at by clients on a weekly basis because the quality of the service they receive is severely compromised by the practices put in place by management. Good luck taking PTO if you’re on a team, the expectation it that you are available at a moment’s notice every night and weekend and checking up on work while you are on vacation. Beyond CTC’s effect to completely limit your ability to have a life outside of work, this job also affects your mental health and self esteem. Get ready for knee jerk reactions from your inexperienced managers, rampant cost cutting and zero commitment to the people on the frontlines with clients who are actually driving the company revenue.
