Great team but shady, blind and deaf leadership. - Anonymous employee Shout Digital Employee Review

1.0
29 July 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Great team (most have quit now). - Supportive culture from colleagues, not higher management. - Nice office.

Cons

- Workload and Utilisation Lack of Workload Management: When employees have no assigned tasks, there is no provision for training or a system in place to allocate them to other projects (no bench concept). This leads to periods of inactivity and frustration. Inefficient Office Requirements: Being required to come into the office three days a week without any work to do is unproductive and demoralising. Unjust Criticism: Employees are unfairly reprimanded for being seen on non-work-related websites, like YouTube, when they have no tasks or training opportunities. This is counterproductive and creates an unhealthy work environment. Inability to Contribute: There is no structure allowing employees to assist other departments during downtime, leading to wasted potential and disengagement. - Issues with Pay Reviews and Business Practices Unfulfilled Pay Reviews: Although pay reviews are scheduled for November, employees are often told by HR that they have missed the review. This is done by design of the CEO/SLT to avoid giving pay rises. This is mentioned in other reviews of this company. - Inconsistent Work From Home Policies Resistance to Remote Work: The CEO is strongly opposed to remote working, and a hybrid model was only adopted post-COVID because most businesses had already moved to full remote work. Selective Remote Work: Some employees were allowed to work fully remotely, primarily because the required skill sets were not available locally, inconsistent policy application that is again designed to benefit the business when it suits them. Lack of Flexibility: Requests for temporary or situational flexibility in the Work From Home policy were routinely denied, causing massive inconvenience and dissatisfaction. This is all due to the CEOs mindset and Heads of departments not willing to push back on this. - Misaligned Leadership Priorities CEO-Centric Decision Making: Department heads prioritise pleasing the CEO over addressing the real needs of the business and employees, leading to a lack of constructive feedback and necessary pushback. Outdated Leadership Mindset: The CEO's outdated mindset and approach to business management are causing significant harm to the company's growth and overall success.

Explore other reviews about Shout Digital

5.0
3 Feb 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great management, great overall direction for the company. Feels like a flat org chart, meaning that everybody has a voice. Different to the standard agency where upper management cares about numbers on a spreadsheet and little else. Shout truly cares about its employees and also cultivates a workplace which encourages people to be the best they can be.

Cons

No cons I can think of

1
3.0
19 Nov 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Remote working (if you live far away from Newcastle otherwise you are forced to go to the office 3 days a week) - Stable company - Friendly and fun colleagues - They have actually managed to hire some excellent developers in the last few years due to market conditions although I suspect they will leave once the market improves and they can find something better - Variety of interesting projects to work on

Cons

- Your experience will depend entirely on the projects you are assigned to, some clients can be pushy and demanding whereas others are a joy to work with - Salary is low compared to how much the clients are billed - No meaningful benefits - No engineering or code quality standards. The focus is purely on assigning people to projects, delivering and billing the clients - Unethical leadership decisions (I witnessed lying to clients and silent layoffs)

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