Lack of Leadership Experience: many of the newer leadership members do not have actual industry experience, and in some cases like Marketing, don't even have experience in Marketing. In addition, many do not seem to have the experience or leadership qualities to guide teams through large transformations. As evidenced by Marketing senior leaders’ lack of empathy, poor handling, and dismissal of loyal, high-performing Marketing employees who were impacted by layoffs and other organizational changes. In addition, Marketing senior leaders, particularly CMO, can act unprofessional and immature at times, with a tendency to play favorites.
Solution Divide: internal friction between teams focused on core Criteo retargeting and retail media solutions, causing teams (i.e. Sales, Marketing, Product) to essentially compete against each other rather than work together for the greater good. This starts with the leaders of those commercial teams, who, up to this point, have demonstrated that they cannot, and will not, work well together.
Ever-changing Priorities: CMO, VP and commercial leaders seem to shift priorities constantly and put more value on lavish customer events and programs rather than strategies that actually impact the business. This causes a lot of stress on the teams who are delivering on plans and are already experiencing burnout.
Feedback Backlash: employees are constantly asked for feedback through a number of surveys, but it rarely translates into any action from the company. This is particularly true in Marketing where the CMO and VP request feedback from Marketing only to chastise and dismiss those who shared anything that was less than positive, creating a toxic team environment where most are now reluctant to ever share honest feedback again.
Career Growth: inconsistent policies across the organization on job titles, positions, spans, levels and pay. This results in favoritism and roadblocks on career progression.