Take a look at the rating trends provided above by the Glassdoor reviews, it tells the same timeline and story I share with you here. It is the story of a tech giant, an infectious culture that put people first, and rewarded them for their sacrifice that grew the company so rapidly the last 3 years. The saga is as sad to share as it has been to watch. A company with a potential empire, is being poisoned from the inside by excessive arrogance and inflated egos, rapidly increasing disrespect of employees and their value, and finally driven to disgrace by unethical and highly questionable behavior- driven by greed.
I am not sure if it was the outside investors, or the executives that lead that initiative, that plummeted the leadership into the selfish and questionable behavior; but the dates those happened and the sharp decline in their approval rating are directly related. There are things you should know if you choose to work here:
1. Recruiting will sell you a flexible schedule and amazing culture, but it is not that anymore. Making a move to this company, now, is career suicide.
2. Your salary will be insulting low, but they will tell you the food should make up for it. Asking for a salary, reasonable and consistent to fair market, is out of the question. The CEO believes that because he did your job for 10 minutes 10 years ago, he is somehow an expert hat knows more than you. It doesn’t matter what you do or the advanced degree you have, he will insist you have no idea what you are talking about and he can do it better. I have never understood why he hires professionals with years of experience but refuses to leverage their knowledge and expertise. The dismissive behavior does explain how he justifies offering such low compensation though- he thinks he is surrounded by idiots.
3. You will NEVER see the 15% bonus and it is in no way connected to your sole performance like you are told in the hiring process. Each manager is given a lump sum based on their performance and if the department makes money for the company. It is then divided between employees based on favoritism. It will also be used as a means of passive retaliation. You will also never get your performance review in writing or with any supporting documentation.
4. Bonus and salary increases are supposed to be paid out April 1st for your performance between July and December of 2016. The company failed to meet their established deadline and did not pay out the performance increases until the end of April. An email was sent from the HR director to all employees that it would be paid out retroactive to April 1st. Any employee that resigned due to the issues I have stated here were denied their bonus and salary increase retroactive to that date. This is retaliation in its most simple form.
5. The toxic environment so many speak of on the reviews is accurate. Retaliation is a tool of the company and leadership. It is not the HR doesn’t care, it has no power. When HR and legal began to escalate, and bring to light, the complaints regarding the toxic and retaliatory environment the SR. Managers and Directors were accused of having “performance” issues. I don’t know about you, but when I see my HR department go from 8 to 2 people and Sr legal counsel leave, because of resignations, in under 90 days, I question the story I’m not hearing from leadership.
6. When leadership doesn’t like you, your team will go through a “re org”. They pick and choose employees they want to keep and even provide a heads up to them that they are “safe”. What leadership doesn’t understand is that not all common sense is common, and those employees you shared that information with will talk to other employees. What makes it worse is when it was ABSOLUTELY accurate in the end, so unfortunately it can’t be blamed on rumors. They say they justify terminating sales people who are under performing, while bragging about record sales all at the same time.
7. Since January of 2017 the turnover rate has rapidly grown into the double digits as employees leave in droves for other opportunities. They had originally invested a significant amount of the investment money on a new office for all the rapid growth they had projected in 2017/18. That changed when they realized their fiscal irresponsibility had drained their funds and they couldn’t afford to pay the salaries of truly talented individuals being recruited. They are wasting thousands on an office floor they can’t even use because the headcount tanked, maybe they can free range the egos of the executives on that floor so they can stop dumping on their own employees.
8. Leadership brags that the Singapore office culture is so great, and that’s where they should be growing. I agree. It is great cause you are half a world away and can’t drive it into the ground at the alarming rate of your success here in the states.
