The Cons section is going to be quite a bit longer than the Pro section, but that doesn't necessarily mean they outweigh the positives, just that it's easier to be specific and are things that should be considered if evaluating a corporate position here.
Pay and standard benefits: Robert Half pays well below market average for nonsales positions. This is especially true in the SF Bay Area where they are headquartered, where demand for talent and salaries have skyrocketed. Their health plan is mediocre at best, and continues to get more expensive for employees each year, despite constant quarter-over-quarter increase in earnings.
Technology: If you're someone who has upgraded from IE 6, you will be frustrated by the technology infrastructure at RH. While there certainly are security protocols that must be in place to protect private information, this is too often used as an excuse to shun new developments in technology -- and by new I mean things developed in the last 5-10 years, not a year ago. What this really boils down to is the executive leadership, who I will cover more in-depth next. They simply are not technology people, have not prioritized hiring solid technology people and have not put any type of real value on technology for a very long time, writing nearly every new development off as a fad or distraction. They are not the types that evolve with the times or invest heavily in tech, and the technology infrastructure at RH reflects that. I personally spend at least 15-20 percent of my work time trying to fix technical issues or find workarounds that would allow me to do my job on pace with peers at other organizations.
Executive Management: As I mentioned above, the executive team at RH is pretty old-school, and they run the company accordingly. The CEO is largely just a figurehead at this point and is rarely seen in either of the corporate offices. He doesn't seem to be driving any substantial future evolution of the organization and certainly not any innovation in the industry. He certainly played that role in the company's past, but it would appear those days are well behind him. The "real" leadership for the company is spearheaded by the COO and CFO, both of whom are also very traditional business men. In the past couple of years, the COO seems to have realized the need to embrace technology and the changing business landscape and has pushed forward a number of changes and transformations -- albeit far too slowly to keep up with the actual change of pace in the business world. The CFO is often referred to as some sort of mad financial genius, and it's partially true. If you look at RH's earnings reports over the last many years, you'll always see at least some quarter-over-quarter growth, even during the down times. Add to that the fact that the company has no debt (something they publicly disclose) and it looks amazing. While it is without question the CFOs duty to deliver profit to shareholders, it's important to note that, as mentioned above, pay is subpar, technology is beyond aged and benefits are pretty abysmal - especially when compared to what other Bay Area companies are offering. If RH chose to offer compensation and benefits on par with other Bay Area companies -- that margin would erode substantially.
Diversity: I truly think the PEOPLE at Robert Half care about diversity - and the people in charge of diversity absolutely do the best they can with the resources available and believe passionately in it. However, it is also my belief that much of the senior management actually could care less about it, and in fact may secretly oppose it. Why? When speaking above about the executive team, it's important to note that there is not one single person of color, female or member of the LGBT community (or any other minority group) with a "C" in their title. In fact, the entire executive management team is of the exact same demographic. Further, looking beyond the c-suite, there are very few people of color in senior leadership positions, I know of only one openly LGBT person in a position of organizational leadership and the few women who do have high-level leadership positions also share a very similar demographic.
Politics and micromanagement: Being a fairly traditional company, politics at RH can at times be atrocious. This is true of all departments and especially of inter-departmental interactions. However, depending on the department you work in, they can be unbearable. These politics are often based on ego and can be counterproductive and at times even dishonest. In certain departments these politics also lead to substantial micromanagement. For example, in the marketing department it's very common for team members to get "feedback" from one of the directors on particular way they've written internal emails, different words they should have used and even the order of names listed in the "to" and "cc" fields. There can also a bit of nepotism and favoritism that happens, so it's important to be aware of "who's who" because stepping on the wrong toes does have consequences. Additionally, because of the politics and ego from some departments, things take a very long time to get accomplished, and go through many, many layers of approval. Sometimes these layers can be helpful, however, more often than not they actual reduce the quality of a marketing campaign or end product simply so people in certain positions can feel like they've had their say or put their mark on it in order to get credit.
