Pros
• Company attracts/attracted great talent, who is passionate about their work and has great experience
Cons
An extremely toxic working environment.
- CEO thrives on a "hire-and-fire" mentality, creating a place of fear
- Shifts in strategy and team structures happen every other month
- Long probation periods so roles can be “made redundant” when convenient
- When asked about office culture and work-life balance, CEO deflects questions and preaches “hard work is essential”
No career growth opportunities, promotions, or salary increases.
- CEO doesn’t believe in career growth, bonuses or pay rises
- HR openly admits there will be no structure blaming it on ”ever evolving start up culture” 6 years in…
- 0 reward for good work or any sort of acknowledgment
No transparency
- Company clearly often in financial troubles due to projects being stopped last minute / constant ‘restructuring’
- CEO preaches growth and great achievement in company wide meetings but in private admits the company has not been doing well and continues to plateau
- “Strongest year yet 2024” is due to 10+ redundancies across business to cut costs
Lack of leadership
- The CEO surrounds himself with an insular group that prioritizes personal relationships over business results
- Highly favorited people continue to be promoted while making no effort with wider teams and fueling toxic work culture
- The rest of the management is often passive aggressive and engage in bullying culture resulting in employee breakdowns
- The manic work ethic has already led to the loss of top talent and unless the founder steps down as CEO, there is no saving