PEP Reviews

Spirit Fridays: They are more or less used so you can meet the 10 new hires of that week. Turnover is incredibly high, regardless of what they say. It's akin to a college class graduating. Everyone leaves at the same time and in high quantities. Making You Feel Valued: I can assure you that upper management will axe you without a second thought. Yea, they might put you on an "Action Plan" so you can prove you can work there, but to most all employees, it's known as a death sentence and I saw it take out a good amount of people. Most say there is little chance that you can pass an Action Plan. Honesty Not Encouraged: You'll for sure get in trouble for speaking out and standing up for what you think is right. (Whoever responds to this from the company will say that this concerns them because they respond to almost every bad review so their polished look won't be tarnished.) College Lifestyle: Pep won't send you back to school, but they will adopt you into their Greek house of a company. If you're listening Pep, which you are, my vote for a company mascot is "Smoke & Mirrors". That might be too creative for you though... Tries To Be Cool: This was true when I was there, not sure anymore, but at one point, the HR department renamed itself the "People, Culture and Development Team" and their "roar" was "Train, retrain and retain!" So cool. Did I mention that selfie sticks were received as a gift during a Pep Rally? #LikeICantEven #CollegeLife Management: Woof. A large majority of management is full of weenies. They are so brainwashed in the Pep life that they know nothing other than it. A LOT of them don't know how to lead or grow a team.

Depends. Possibly very few if you have a decent human being for a manager and your co-workers aren’t poisonous pit vipers. It’s a slippery slope with a culture so closely mimicking high school. It’s all about the people, so the cons largely depend on what position you’re in and who you work for/with. Unlike high school though, at Pep not “fitting in” doesn’t cost you a social life, it costs you a living. I could go on and on with examples, but it all boils down to an obvious double standard. If you’re at the cool kids table, you’re loving life; opportunities for growth, training, face-time with management, work = social life +1, 20 minutes late every day = promotion, mistakes = “no worries, we’ll find a scape goat”, gold stars, A+, etc. Not so cool? Well then expectations are as they should be in a professional work environment for you, but management still has no responsibility. Don’t want to blabber on and on about what you’re going to do this weekend, omg? Don’t think, speak, act and learn just like they do? Not a mind reader? Then you’re the problem. Management can’t be inconvenienced by such menial management-type tasks such as coaching, teaching or even bothering to show up to regularly scheduled one on ones. No. Their solution is passive aggression, humiliation and bullying. Professional attitudes in my department were non-existent. My co-workers and manager regularly spoke terribly of good people behind their backs. Communication was rarely professional and regularly demeaning. Co-workers in my department regularly made our internal customers uncomfortable with their abrasive and belittling attitudes. I will never understand where the horrible people I worked with got their sense of entitlement to treat others like “lesser thans” but more and more they seemed to be getting rewarded for it in their careers. So it appears that’s what Pep values. In general, Pep replies to these reviews to have the last word, so take it all for what it’s worth. I think it’s obvious that 90% of the cons fall directly on a handful of nasty people with too much power and not enough experience dealing with the people side of managing. Many people are happy at this company and have successful careers, there’s no debate. And there are a lot of really great people, that’s certainly true. But there’s no denying that there’s a strong theme. Despite Pep’s “apparent” attempts to turn their ship away from this reputation, there are still individuals wielding enough power to keep the catty, cliquey, downright “Mean Girls” culture very, very alive. I’m sure when they see this, they’ll promptly IM each other to go to Starbucks and discuss at length. About the company as a whole: I know there are other pockets of individuals in similar situations, so it is not an isolated situation. But there are still good, decent people that are very friendly and want the best for others. It only takes a few bad apples…and Pep has more than enough. The monthly happy hours are designed to be two hours long, but don't stay more than 20 minutes. I have heard of management holding this against good employees. The turnover seems pretty high because a lot of people have similar experiences to mine and see what Pep is really about. Either that or they leave for more money, which can be another con. Also, if you work for Pep and decide to leave…be very careful to whom you disclose where you’re going. It has been said that management will call your future employer in an attempt to tarnish your reputation before you get there.