Pros
Despite the whirlwind of chaotic processes, inexplicable decisions, and constant corporate upheaval, the true heart and soul of Driven Brands were its everyday employees. These hardworking professionals were the backbone of the company, often enduring long hours and immense pressure with unwavering dedication. Their commitment and resilience stood in stark contrast to the leadership that seemed more preoccupied with their own bonuses and reshuffling than with the well-being of their team. These employees showed up every day, driven by a sense of duty and professionalism, even when recognition and rewards were scarce. In a company where leadership often faltered, it was the everyday workers who kept the wheels turning. They were the unsung heroes, demonstrating remarkable strength and solidarity, ensuring that despite the chaos at the top, the company continued to move forward. Their spirit and dedication were truly the most valuable assets of Driven Brands.
Cons
At Driven Brands, my tenure could best be described as a rollercoaster ride through a funhouse of baffling business decisions and perpetual corporate reshuffling. The processes, if you could call them that, seemed to be designed by someone who had never seen a functioning organization before. Reorganization of the corporate structure was a regular event, almost like a seasonal tradition, ensuring that just as you started to understand your role, it would change entirely. Selecting vendors was a particularly special form of madness. The concept of an RFP was as foreign as a Martian language. Instead, decisions were made in what seemed to be the executive version of Russian roulette, leading to contracts with vendors who delivered more headaches than solutions and were often chosen based on immediate cost and personal connection rather than ROI and ability to deliver. It was a miracle if a project got off the ground, let alone succeeded. Driven Brands’ motto for vendor selection and project management should be “we can’t afford to do it right, but we can afford to do it twice.” The C Suite, in their infinite wisdom, loved to refer to employees as “working from their pajamas in their basement.” This would have been amusing if it weren’t so tragically out of touch. Those basement-dwellers were the backbone of the company, often logging 14-hour days, skipping meals, and sacrificing their personal lives. Relationships crumbled, and health deteriorated. One colleague suffered a heart attack, another had a nervous breakdown, and yet another was hospitalized for kidney failure – all because they worked without food or rest. If tone deaf was a company, it would be Driven Brands. While virtually no one saw a bonus for 2023, the CFO (Driven’s second in less than 2 years) waltzed away with a 100% bonus and his sign-on bonus, despite arguably leaving the company in worse shape than he found it after 10 months on the job. Who needs the lottery when you can help yourself to the largesse of corporate monies on the backs of employees you insult on a near constant basis? Meritocracy was the buzzword of the year, mentioned so often you’d think it was a mantra. In practice, though, it was as mythical as a unicorn. Promotions were handed out based on personal relationships or to project a facade of “girl power,” while genuinely deserving candidates were overlooked - or worse- laid off as being unnecessary. On other occasions, the company would pull a complete stranger off the street for a key role, bypassing qualified internal candidates, or vice versa, with no discernible logic. Driven Brands wasn’t just a workplace; it was a masterclass in how not to run a company. The chaos was ceaseless, the decisions baffling, and the toll on hard working employees was immense. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the experience left me well-prepared for anything – after all, if you can survive Driven Brands, you can survive anything.