Where to begin... The job I was hired for didn't actually exist by the time I started working here due to a restructuring that occurred in the month between my acceptance, background check, and actual start date. The person who was supposed to work with me to establish a critical process was reassigned under a new SVP who, in short, no longer required that the process come to life. Ironically, that process was the exact reason I was hired. As I observed, the process was absolutely needed to streamline and make transparent the flow of cross-functional information. For nine months, my bosses tossed me from one insignificant task to the next with no clear vision or path.
After that attempt fizzled, my boss moved me to another team where all the teammates had quit. So, I was now responsible for an entire department in a capacity where I was not a subject matter expert. It was the worst professional situation I’ve ever been in, with the expectation that, as a salaried employee, I’d be willing to work 4-6 extra hours per day to keep this team’s mission afloat. I wasn’t willing, and I didn’t. I only work those kinds of extra hours when it feels joyful to do so—this was miserable. This situation lasted for about half a year. Working at Paramount has almost been a complete waste of time.
How did things like this happen? Terrible leadership. Once people reach the VP, SVP, EVP, Chief of..., and division president levels (with few exceptions), they become paralyzed with fear. Leaders at Paramount are absolutely afraid of each other—afraid of offending one another, of articulating something incorrectly, and of ‘swirl’ (a phrase used to avoid being effective). They often, in my experience, are afraid of technology and unwilling to learn useful, supportive tools. It’s pretty amazing that anything gets done at this company. Simple tasks that should only require a degree of position power, or support from someone who has it, simply don’t happen. It’s like trying to move a mountain. Maybe that’s what the logo is all about.
I once sat in a meeting where my department’s senior leader was running through a restructuring that impacted around 1,000 people. Someone asked during this Zoom meeting if the presentation would be available afterward. The senior leader looked anxious, perplexed, and stunned by the question. After looking blank for a moment, the response was, “I’ll check with HR to see if it’s okay.” Wait, when you’re a Chief of... you need to check with HR to see if you can share material you’re already sharing? When you’re a Chief of... and you can’t make a simple decision on the fly? If you're this fearful in such basic situations, you probably don’t deserve your absurdly overpaid job.
This brings me to my next observation: The leadership hierarchy at Paramount is ridiculous. Directors report to Directors, VPs report to VPs, SVPs report to SVPs—and there are even a few cases where Chiefs report to other Chiefs. I’ve worked in media and entertainment for two decades and have never seen such bloated leadership. It’s like they need a manager to manage the manager who manages the next manager, and so on, until you get down to a coordinator or intern who does actual work. The executive level is beyond bloated and needs to be flattened. If more people at the executive level actually worked, I’m quite sure they wouldn’t need so many executives.
Friends... The people at the top, in my experience, are friends (probably some family too, but that’s likely kept quieter). The extent to which they pal around is incredible. When they get going, you have to remind yourself that you’re not really part of it—they’re talking to each other, not you. This is probably why they’re so afraid of one another. They don’t want to hurt their friends' feelings. Worse, they don’t want to be corrected on something they’ve asserted and be told they didn’t understand fully. Nothing gets done, and you watch people stagnate while earnest employees can’t do anything about it.
Leadership isn’t held accountable. Their failures are defined by their leaders (their friends), not by how they fail the people below them. When leaders are friends with their leaders, their shortcomings or failures aren’t acknowledged. There’s no call to action to make these leaders improve, no recourse for being bad at their job, and no 360 reviews. Leaders at Paramount pander to each other and their bosses, completely dismissing the people below them—unless those people are friends (or perceived friends).
Learning and development can be hit or miss. The worst experience I had was with a facilitator who 'told' us we were safe (facilitators don’t define safety, participants do) and then asked us to share the highs and lows of our lives. This exercise wasn’t conducted in a trauma-informed way and was a horrible experience, especially as it was part of an HR-led program meant to make leaders feel better about mass layoffs.
In sum, it’s amazing this company is still in business. The stock price is clearly struggling, which is probably why they have no choice but to sell the company. The tribunal of CEOs is useless and tone-deaf, unable to read the room or connect with their employees. This place is not conducive to growth. If you have your heart set on working in the entertainment industry, please look elsewhere.
