Company: Deloitte
Date: 2017-08-07
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Confirmed

Beware of Human Capital communications consulting practice
Pros: I had five great years at Deloitte, implementing key solutions for clients in HR communications and change management. I gained/grew many skillsets and worked with a lot of great people.
Cons: During my sixth year, I was tasked to work for a new manager brought in to build the communications practice. Halfway into the year I became severely ill.  Meanwhile my boss had just left for a month-long international vacation. I covered my own work and continued to move projects forward, as well as taking on work and requests coming into her while she was out. Given that we had this team structure of just two people and had a boss constantly telling me I was the only one who could help her, I felt like I could not take significant time away from work - which led to me becoming very sick and having to take a short-term medical leave.  

During that leave my boss  forced me to haul heavy boxes of practice collateral (p.s. not legal for my boss to ask me to work while I'm on a medical leave) as she had hired in her old team from her former employer and seemingly was trying to replace me. Perhaps because she did not want to deal with my potential disability accommodations when I returned to work. Maybe she just didn't like me anymore - I certainly felt that. Upon returning to work full-time (I ramped up on a part-time basis for a little over a month), I could barely get her to talk directly to me and despite some temporary doctor restrictions on travelling, I was willing and able to return to my old job duties.  Unfortunately, my boss wouldn't give me any work - clients I had serviced for over 5 years were taken away, and I was tasked with doing entry-level administration work.  

After a few weeks, I got some actual assignments related to client work, but she would constantly change the scope and due date on me and not communicate it or share perspective or documentation needed to do the work that she had from other team members. I completed work to the best of my knowledge but then would be told I was having performance issues by a junior manager (as well as HR, who my boss reported me to, instead of talking with me directly about what she was seeing).  I unfortunately then began experiencing new, additional health issues, including a cancer scare, as well as conditions that led to me having to have multiple abdominal surgeries. Of course I was having to have lab work done and go to many doctor visits to get a diagnosis - something I communicated thoroughly to my boss and team, but would always take grief whenever I had to actually attend an appointment. Rather than ever speaking with me directly and having anyone provide me with tangible feedback about job performance, she had me fired. It was two days before my first mammogram and I was in the ER with severe gallstones (flared by stress according to my doctor) about a week after that. 

Deloitte is a great place to work, and I generally had nothing but positive experiences  up until I worked for this person. To this day I am still traumatized by the sound of her name and the way she treated me. So, work for Deloitte, but avoid the rewards communications practice in Human capital at all costs.