How a bad boss can compel an employee to leave - Anonymous employee Margera Employee Review

Hello there, I am Gerasimos, CEO of Margera, and I would like to share my personal view of the mentioned facts. Getting feedback and acting on it is a core value at Margera, so we are always open to it. In this case, however, I believe there are different points that are not the best reflection of reality so I would like to set the record straight. In regards to the positive points, the one I am most proud for is the “supportive colleagues” as this is the least one can say about this Team of intelligent, kind and caring members. Please find below the points you mentioned, along with a reply. — -It seems like a problem without solution… > I do understand that getting feedback when not performing is not easy. However, the reason we are supporting some of the top companies is that we are able to deliver great work in fast times. When one team member does not deliver and still acts as nothing has happened, unfortunately this is something that we cannot accept because our Clients cannot accept. -Writing and re-writing… > Our job is to provide value through data and a big part of this is extremely clear communication. Taking something that is intrinsically difficult and explaining it in a simple way is something extremely valuable. We are passionate about this, and we even have internal trainings. In order to deliver something great, it needs writing and re-writing but this does not mean that this is less productive. -CEO mentioned in almost every meeting… > I never use as an argument for being right, having worked at Google. Saying this, is like connotating that I consider being at Google my highest point. Building the Team that we have and doing work for the companies that we support is something x10 more difficult. Lastly, in regards to your point about being 9 months there, I did have the option to move abroad in Google or build my own company, and I chose the latter. -CEO had very high expectations without providing clear… > In regards to the vague instructions, this is what we get and our value is getting these vague briefs and making them specific and value-adding. Lastly, I cannot accept the “pointless follow-up meetings”; one of the reasons we are blazingly fast is the low number of meetings but when someone isn’t performing, we support and guide in every step; we believe that this is the way to help. -Rude, disrespectful and bossy CEO. In my 10+… > Excuse me, but I do not believe, at any moment, that I yelled at you. I am not someone that does everything right and given the challenges of running a high-growth company, things can become tense. Throughout my career I do know that one time I actually yelled at a team member; this was something bad and something I apologised for and I am really happy that this person is still with us. In any case, if this actually happened or if you received any of my communications this way, I apologise for this. -Almost every day you work more hours (>2h) than expected. > It is true that many times we need to work more, something we communicate from the first interview. Also, this is not something that we enforce but something that a team member can choose to do; The people that choose to support the Team when needed are both appreciated and compensated for this. -My job responsibilities were irrelevant to the job description… > To be honest, this sounds really odd. You joined our Team as an Analyst and the tasks that you worked on were working on a report and an analysis. -Overall bad management behavior from the CEO > I touched upon this on the aforementioned points. -Take away responsibilities without justification > As one can clearly see from your points, you consider refining your work as micromanagement and the manifestation of your approach was that you actually did not want to actually improve the work but rather deliver to the Client as it was (although not ok). This is not something that we can do as a Company, we care about our work. -Margera is a proven example of unhealthy remote… > To be honest, I do not see where the “proven” part of your point is, but I understand that this is your view. Since we already do this for a couple of years and it was the Team that decided to go full-remote, possibly this is working ok. -Hire a talented HR to on-board the employees… > This is spot-on and something we are working on. -Hire a CEO assistant… > While an assistant or PA could actually help me increase my productivity, I do not believe we are at this point yet, but I keep this as food for thought. -Train people in key positions essential communication… > As you know, we are already doing this and the fact that you already mentioned about “supportive team” is a testament to this. — We would like this relationship to have been a productive one, but unfortunately it was not. I do believe, though, that both parties can learn from the experience and become even better. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Thank you, Gerasimos