Having been there 13 years and also having drunk the Dell Kool Aid for half of that time, I saw a large shift in culture and leadership around the time of the EMC Acquisition. Individual Development Plans (IDPs) were always mandatory and set as serious, yet meeting with Senior Leadership to review never saw a single positive outcome (I had one Leader ask me to just say that we'd done mine as they were too busy) and the 'reorgs' that came every 2 years or so were done more and more thoughtlessly by Leadership with zero relevance to our IDPs, put into roles we had no experience in that did not match our career path in any way, whatsoever.
"Tell Dell" is done yearly by employees (allegedly anonymous) to rate their Leader, Leadership, the overall culture and several other categories. They also touted the overall high numbers without really addressing except for a short mention, the low-rated responses. Several colleagues and myself had Leaders who were far below the minimum expectations across multiple categories, yet remained in-role as Leaders for YEARS. I stopped believing in IDPs, "Tell Dell" and that Leadership actually 'cared and was listening.'
I left after a reorg had me working the equivalent of three roles and having gone to Leadership to discuss when I was close to complete burn-out, and was told I should take it as a compliment that they felt that I was capable of handling it. Other colleagues shared similar experiences. I realize this can be common in many corporations these days, but be aware that Dell is one of those.
After receiving no constructure help or feedback regarding my workload and having been moved completely off of my career path, I had hit my breaking point and began job hunting. They eye-opener for me in doing so and receiving offers (and a accepting a new, outside job) was how FAR below industry-standards I was being paid. Colleagues and I had had the trust that Dell and our Leaders had our best interest in mind and were perpetually giving us the best raise or level-promotion increases they were able to, until we compared notes. We found colleagues a hierarchy a level below us were often making quite a bit more than we were. I advocated heavily for myself throughout my career there, without much success. When yearly increases were given and I had been working three roles, I was given a 3% increase... I started job hunting the very next day. I received a $30k increase for an outside role nearly identical to the one I was leaving, with a much better bonus structure.
Despite all of the above, I really did enjoy my first several years there, until the culture changed- and from what I've heard from colleagues there that I stay in-touch with, it's only continued to worsen-- a sales rep took their own life in the campus parking lot a few weeks ago which is terrible, and says quite a bit about how they are not properly handling employee stress, workforce reductions, or listening to what they are being told.
I see their Executive Leadership constantly on Social Media in selfies and group shots with employees old and new- it's selling a brand to current and potential employees. Those Exec Leaders they are taking those selfies with would let them without much consideration.
Am I bitter? Not any longer but I honestly was for quite some time. Now I'm more of the mindset to hopefully prevent others from buying into an employer brand that isn't real and a culture that has become toxic and primarily about Leaders helping to promote their peers as they scale up the ladder, though this has changed as they have recently demoted many medium-level Leaders into Individual Contributors, now. Most of the former colleagues I keep in touch with are looking to leave or are biding their time to leave when the tech job market normalizes. My long-term plan had been to leave at some point and to return back in a year or two (because it's blatantly stated by Leadership that that is the best way to get proper pay, there)- I've deleted returning there from any of my future goals. If this makes at least one person think twice about wanting to accept a role or work there, then I'm glad I wrote this.
