Red Flags That Help You To Identify Bad companies And Institutions

Munyaradzi Zindi Chikomba

Employment is one stage of life that you may never escape from unless you are a self-made entrepreneur who found his/her area of business interest at a very early stage and then invested your time, energy and resources to establish your own business.

Over the years, I have seen a lot of young people being tossed around as if they are worthless and what hurts the most is that they hang on until they end up feeling hopeless.

However, it is important to understand that signs and symptoms which shows that all is not well in a company are visible from the onset and you must be aware of them.

I have been to several job interviews and judging from my personal experience, the disorganization of a company is visible as soon as you get there since companies make you wait for hours before they start their interview.

What this simply shows is that such a company doesn’t respect time and as such, you must ask yourself what is it that will make them respect the time you will offer them. A job is a transaction where one sells his time, expertise and knowledge in exchange of monetary value.

As such, when a company officials cannot respect time on important issues like an interview, what gives you the audacity of believing that they will respect the time your offer to them in the course of your duties?

Many organizations may take interviews lightly because they regularly get a lot of applicants but you must take a good look at the person conducting the interview. Do you see yourself aspiring to be like that person because when someone is given the role to conduct interviews it means that person is one of their best?

After passing an interview, one is expected to sign a contract that binds the employer and the employee but unfortunately, many companies have since absconded from that practice because of the nature of the current business environment.

A contract is a must because every nitty-gritty of the exchange between the employer and the employee should be written in that document and as such, a big sign of future problems is the denial of issuing a legal contract to employees.

Contracts protect both the company and the employee and if the company is legit, it should also want to protect their reputation and future by securing a legally binding document between them and the new employee.

In the midst of having a new job, you may be too excited but it’s critical to ask your new employer to sign a contract with you and this contract should include expected conduct, nature of your work and most importantly, your salary.

This is because if such things are not written down, you will not have a good basis of argument since in the business world, oral agreements may not be that binding.

Disorganization is even visible when a company has no clear structure. A structure is fundamental because it shows the power dynamics of an establishment. It reveals whether power centralized on one person or not.

There should be clear structures whether the company is big or small because when one individual is everything in a company, there is no accountability since such people merely report to themselves.

Some companies may be SMEs which are still in their formative years, and thus lacking resources to have more employees and to create a perfect structure but, regardless of the size, there should be a clear light that this company is going somewhere.

More-so, every worker deserves orientation of some soft because you need to understand a clear path of where the company is coming from, where it is and where it is going. You also need to understand the company’s vision and the mission since without these, your full potential will be at stake.

Modern day businesses have shifted from the ancient way of doing things and have gone digital.

As such, an organized company should at least have a functional website, and they should also be visible on various social platforms because that’s how modern businesses operate. A company which has no trace and history is very. A company should be traceable because if anything wrong happens, there should be a clear path to trace.

Some people have been trafficked because of lack of proper diligence in finding finer details of what the company they are joining really do. Never be too excited to run into committing to something you are not understanding especially if there is no proper explanation when you ask relevant questions.

It’s your right to know and understand what you are about to commit yourself to. In the business circles there is something called the recycling strategy which has been used recently by most companies especially SMEs.

The strategy is meant to give more profits to the company at a minimum cost and so, what they do is that they continuously employ new employees and frustrate old employees by not giving salaries and proper working conditions.

When someone is new to the company, they give their one hundred percent so they continue putting new people on board.

A red flag to new employees depending on the years of operation and the size of the company is lack of long time serving members because a business should have a couple of veterans who have been with the company for a while.

The moment that you see new employees every time, you ask yourself why unless the business is expanding.

Even though in these modern times people may not believe in working for one company forever, there must be at least some people who have been committed to that company for a while since no-one wants to leave the best. If the company doesn’t retain most of its employees, it means something is wrong.

Most of the modern day companies may be new kids on the block especially with our country economic environment but however, in business we have something called an organizational culture.

An Organization Culture is a way in which things are done at a certain institution or company, whether good or bad. A company may not be paying that much but it may have a good organization culture which is progressive.

A company should teach you conduct, basic principles of life, grooming and etiquette. Those things are important because what impresses clients is the way you package yourself first before the service. If you look to your boss, do you see a raw model or you see the person you don’t want to become?  

Leadership should be exemplary by conduct. Everyone has weaknesses but if you see more bad than good in them, it’s a ticking bomb because behavior is contagious.

No matter how big or small every, company should have a clear vision, they should also make their new employees believe in the vision too. A company that jumps in and out of things has no vision, a company that doesn’t have a vision has no future.

The vision statement should be there for all to see since companies that don’t have vision statements are most often opportunists who jump onto every boom in an industry. During the Covid-19 pandemic we saw a boom in the fumigation, sanitizers manufacturing and masks industry.

The above scenario is a good sign of opportunity grabbing by entrepreneurs because they solve problems but it is important to ask yourself if in the long run, it sustainable or its seasonal business which will dwindle in the near future. A person committing to a new company should see all that and then make an informed decision.

Another way of analyzing the direction of where a company is headed is to look at the way they conduct their meetings.

I have seen companies that run without proper meetings and everything is done haphazardly. There is no progress checks and it’s just beating around the bush like a headless chicken. Meetings are important because they map the trajectory of the team and that’s where employers have an opportunity to ask and question procedures and understand the way of doing things in any institution.

As such, before you make any commitment to any institution, you must think through and see if your efforts will be appreciated.

Yes, money is important and everyone needs it, but one has to see if they can exchange their dignity and future for a couple of dollars. Most young people are at risk of abuse and bad conduct at work places and as such, you must do your own due diligence before any commitment because you still have a long way to go.

Munyaradzi Zindi Chikomba (The Social Architect) is a Columnist, Author, Youthful Leader who specializes on Personal and Social  Development. He is a Co-founder and current Executive Chairperson of a Youth Development oriented organization called Shanduko Foundation. He can be contacted on [email protected] +26319103604