Just “keep the lights on” - Anonymous employee Teledyne Technologies Employee Review

I worked in the IT department at Teledyne DALSA for 2.5 years. It was an exercise in futility. We rarely finished anything. I spent a lot of time and effort on critical projects that were needed to improve the business. However, these projects did not come to fruition due to lack of support from management. Management did not set any objectives for the department, there was no strategy, no planning and no leadership. We spent most of our time on support, putting out fires, being pushed around from one crisis to the next. We would start a new project, put significant time and effort into it and then all of a sudden that project would be put on hold so that we could switch to something else. We would commit to do something (without considering the impact on other projects) and then it would change the next day. We did not deliver on our promises, which was embarrassing. Management did not feel the need to stick to our word. There was a critical lack of resources in IT, which impacted the business. Heavy workload and lack of resources is a common theme across the company. There are many tedious processes being done manually by the business. If IT had adequate resources these processes could be automated, hence relieving the workload across the company. However, management did not feel the need to make the case and ask for additional resources. Management preferred to say that everything is fine, rather than openly discuss the challenges we faced and work together to solve them. The culture within my team was not conducive to collaboration. Each person worked in a silo. Due to the heavy workload there was no time for training nor learning new things. No time for professional development. Most important discussions occurred one on one, behind closed doors, not as a team. Not allowed to question anything or speak your mind. FUN FACT: There are three audits conducted every year by three different groups: Teledyne internal audit, SOX reporting and external audit. Most tasks are the same across each audit but for some strange reason they must be done three times. This activity takes up a significant chunk of time from the small team, with no value-add. Provisioning, an administrative function, is handled by the applications team (developers and BA’s). The provisioning system is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming. Mandated by corporate to fulfill an audit requirement – another huge time-suck with very little value-add. The company is growing, business is booming, and yet they will not increase headcount. No investment in critical IT projects. Profits for shareholders is the focus, rather than looking at the big picture. If you are ok to show up every day, put in your hours and just “keep the lights on”, then you will do fine at Teledyne DALSA. If you are interested in making improvements and adding value to the business then this is not the place for you.