Palladium refuses to invest in systems that would lighten the workload of many of its staff. Tasks and projects that may take a couple hours at other international development companies take days at Palladium because so much of the project management that could be automated is done manually. Junior staff have to constantly create their own ways of efficiently doing things to try to lighten their workload. Because the support teams are so limited and understaffed, many of the project delivery staff are forced to wear many different hats, most of which they are not trained or qualified for, but expected to do. When this blows back on the company, senior management consistently blames mid-level or junior staff for overstepping their bounds, even if they were asked to do so.
The company as a whole, stemming from many of the senior technical employees, is very cliquey and creates an environment that doesn't allow junior staff to step into roles that they are interested in. Senior technical staff act like the star quarterback at a small town high school and expect things presented to them on a silver platter. I worked with a senior staff member for the full time I was there, almost single-handedly running the operations side of many of her activities, sat behind her on a cross world flight to a field office, for her to not know who I was in a debrief session a couple weeks after the trip.
Though steps were made to stem the amount of turnover, such as getting junior staff closer to what their market value is, junior staff frequently leave to competitors that see their actual worth. There is no professional development scheme and no clear way to "climb the ladder" or explore one's interests. Efforts by senior management to help junior staffs' careers progress aren't made until junior staff decide to leave, than heaven and earth is moved to try to get them to stay.
While I would recommend Palladium to friends, I would not recommend it as more as a stepping stone to another international development firm. However, for someone who can come in at the senior level, you will be treated like the homecoming king or queen.
Lastly and probably most crucially, while there is an acceptable amount of diversity within the junior ranks, there is almost zero diversity at the senior levels and it shows through the actions of the company and statements-both official and off the cuff-that are made from the senior levels towards junior staff. Senior staff play favorites all the time and bring in their friends to fill senior positions, all of who look like them and think like them. But, to be fair, this is an industry wide issue.
