The salaries and "opportunities" are very appealing. It's easy to get drunk on the punch.
Work life balance is a swear phrase at this organization. They talk about "work life integration" instead but don't allow an opportunity for the life piece to be integrated. When someone is salaried at Sample Supports, it means that individual has an infinite amount of time to dedicate to the job and that they are always on call. It is not uncommon to get an email at 8pm and be required to respond that evening. If you don't respond, sometimes the Executive Director will then call a meeting for 8am the next day and if you miss it, it is your fault and can be grounds for termination. The typical work week is 60-80 hours and if you aren't going to be working over the weekend, it needs to be approved ahead of time.
The company isn't able to keep employees because of how they treat them. There are constant unrealistic demands. The turn over rate is extremely high but management continues to say that people are leaving because "their values don't align with the company's". Anyone that has tried to work toward increasing the quality of life of individuals in services or employees has been forced to step down. When someone gives notice, the Executive Director / Owner makes them work from home so as to now spread their "toxicity".
The Executive Director / Owner has personally assigned tasks to all employees to provide 5 star Glassdoor reviews as well as reviews on Yelp, Trip Advisor, etc. Some employees didn't want to provide these because you have to agree to the terms and conditions of the website saying you are not affiliated. The owner took it very personally and made the employees talk to her about it until they gave in and provided the reviews. These reviews are for all of their companies - Sample Supports, Crystal Joys, and Samples World Bistro.
The company uses a task management software so that everyone's work is transparent. That can be a great tool, however, it is used to manipulate people and not allow them to do their actual jobs which is to support people in services.
The focus is always about making a profit to the detriment of services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Training for all employees from direct care staff to management is almost non existent. Management expects people to just "do the job" and then are reprimanded when they are unable to do so.
