I was displeased with the entire company and it stemmed from the CEO and trickled down to leaders and managers. Based on my own observations, it is clear to me that CAHEC is being lead by people who are pushing their own agenda and the ulterior motives are NOT aligned with CAHEC’s mission. CAHEC does not live up to its slogan of “strengthening communities”….but I’ll get back to that later. After many years, I saw CAHEC for what it was…..which left a really ‘poor taste in my mouth’. Upward mobility in the organization is nonexistent. And when it did happen on a rare occasion, it was not given based upon knowledge, skills, abilities, education or tenure with the company. It was based solely upon favoritism from upper-level management. Favoritism that I believe was heavily influenced by both conscious and unconscious biases. Favoritism was also given to those staff members who didn’t ask difficult questions, challenge a decision or idea, or bring opposing viewpoints. At CAHEC you must be competent enough to do your job but never appear to be a free or independent thinker. It is extremely frowned upon to appear more knowledgeable in a certain area than any other ELT or manager. Some managers at CAHEC need to be the smartest person in the room and they will let you know that by their actions. They listen to respond not to understand. Some of the leaders come off very insecure they often cut off staff members when they speak. If you’re a follower who keeps quiet and does your work, you MIGHT advance. Keyword: Might. I noticed that certain requirements were placed on some employees in order for them to move up, while others were not held to those same standards. There is no formal structure to support any career latter or justifiable explanation for how salary/bonuses are determined. Because of this, there was no way to know if the pay structure was really fair and equitable. Because of this, management had the liberty to impose “barriers” on certain people and positions.
