West Valley National Bank AZ Dental Bank Worst place to work Goodyear Arizona

This organization has a very toxic work culture.  

Pros of working here - The happiest days are those many days the CEO is not in the office. Sometimes your coworkers will bring in cookies to share with you.

The Consof working here - The artist Sting, in the song Synchronicity II by The Police, sums up the work experience here - “Every single meeting with his so-called superior is a humiliating kick in the crotch…”

 Employee turnover in this organization is unbelievably high, and the organization has never been profitable. The culture is based on blame and fear. The CEO is paranoid, manipulative, dishonest, inconsistent, incompetent, and passive aggressive.

 If you are considering working here, ask about the average tenure of the employees in your department. Don’t be surprised if a) you are misled, and b) it’s less than a year. During the interview process, you will be required to complete one or more “personality assessments.” The CEO will use the results of those assessments against you when she makes snide remarks to you when discussing your many failings.

Do not expect to have any real authority in this organization. Oh sure, you will have authority on paper, but if you exercise it, the CEO will tell you it was the wrong decision. Every. Single. Time. The CEO will micromanage everything and every decision. In fact, there isn’t a single decision or action taken without explicit CEO approval. Even after obtaining her approval, she will change her mind and rescind it – after you have acted, of course.

When you question the CEO’s behavior, you will be threatened with ruination and termination. The CEO will also troll your work emails. Sure, this is legal, but it’s totally uncool.

It is a wonder that anyone banks here. For example, it takes several months to underwrite, analyze, and approve a loan at this bank. It is not because the loans are complicated; rather, it is because the CEO is incompetent and inconsistent. The CEO is incapable of distinguishing between good and bad loans. The CEO is completely incapable of reading and synthesizing the information contained in the loan presentations. She refuses to have a face-to-face dialogue about any of the loans, and will require you to submit a Word document for her to review. If you are lucky, after several days the CEO will red-line the document with her inane comments and questions, (all of which are already addressed in your presentation, by the way) and send it back to you for your response. She will demand that you respond in kind, that is in red-line review mode also. This process will continue for several iterations, each time the CEO will demonstrate that she hasn’t synthesized the presentation by asking more and more inane questions. In the end, the document will look like it is hemorrhaging red ink. The CEO is inconsistent because when she gives guidance (or instructions) on a loan, she will completely change her position the next time she looks at it.

Most marginally competent bankers avoid telling their customers that they are doing something because their regulators make them do it. The CEO broadcasts her incompetence by leading with that excuse.

If you are unfortunate enough to be employed here, you will notice a pattern. In the first few months of your employment, the CEO will tell everyone how you are the equivalent of the second coming. She did this with your many predecessors, and will do this with you too. The tone will rapidly change, and before you know it she will be telling the Board that you are toxic, hostile, and difficult to get along with. Once you depart this organization, the CEO will proceed to disparage you and blame all manner of mistakes on you. The CEO enjoys punishing the staff with Saturday work sessions. Those are good times, NOT! Also, forget about trying to develop a personal relationship with your co-workers. God forbid your co-workers want to get together for a beverage after work. The CEO will be threatened by this. In fact, if you make the mistake of saying you like to get together with your co-workers after-hours, this will be a strike against you during the interview process. The CEO will gleefully tell anyone who listens how former employees are “alcoholics”, “up to their eyeballs in debt”, and “are insane.” After you resign or are terminated, don’t be surprised if the CEO files a restraining order against you. She will allege that she is “afraid you might do something…”

Do you due diligence on this company. Read the reviews on www.glassdoor.com. Beware of the positive reviews. The CEO instructed employees to pad the ballot box and place them to offset any negative reviews. Outside of a few tenured employees, the fact that few people stay here more than 6-9 months should be a major red flag. Reach out to a few former employees of this organization before you accept that job offer. I think you’ll find the vast majority have very few positive things to say about working here.

Advice to Management - The Board needs to wake up and smell the manure the CEO is feeding them. Hire an independent third party to evaluate Management. Question what the CEO is telling you and ask for evidence. Be cautious of attempts by the CEO to change the facts to fit her narrative. Every other bank seems to be making money in this economy, why isn’t this one making money? Could it be that the CEO has ruined the organization's reputation in the market? Could it be the ridiculously high employee turnover because of the CEO?