Politics is rampant. Making people feel good about themselves is valued more than getting something done.
Responsibility is chopped into tiny pieces and spread out over too many people, so you can't get anything done without involving 10 other people. Nothing can happen without 5 completely unconnected 'stakeholders' getting to argue or veto your idea. No accountability for business outcomes, only checking off goals.
If you are at any sort of management level, you will spend 1/3 to 3/4 of your day in meetings. The answer to any problem will be to call another meeting. You'll do that alot because the person with the answer will never be in the meeting you are in, even if there are 15 people in that meeting.
The company grades on a curve - no matter what, only a certain small percentage of people can ever be 'outstanding', which destroys the incentive to build a high-performance team. The culture and management has created an environment where the only rational response is to be a snake in the grass, paying lip service to the stated values while throwing people who might threaten your empire under the bus.
If you are results-oriented, you're going to be in trouble. People confuse meeting about something with getting something done. Harmony is required at all costs, even if it means delaying projects because someone somewhere doesn't quite understand all the parts of your plan that aren't even relevant to them. If incompetent people don't like how you interact with them, you will suffer, regardless of your personal accomplishments.
Negotiate your salary up front, because if you just skate along you'll get 2% and if you produce stellar results, it could be 4%, but your supervisor will have to stiff someone else to give that to you.
The company has grown through acquisitions and thus has an inflated sense of it's own ability and reputation in the market.
They didn't get big by being good - they bought their way there with Centrica's money.
