Fun work, toxic culture - Senior Strategist The Kitchen (IL) Employee Review

There is no work/life balance, and the Strategy Director is promoting a culture that doesn't value life outside of work. Working under the strategy director was incredibly challenging and demotivating. While you might appreciate their high standards and desire for perfectionism, their management style will become a roadblock rather than a guide to improvement. Whenever you seek clarification on their feedback, they tend to be combative and dismiss your requests for examples, making it nearly impossible to understand their expectations. They only focus on the negative aspects of your work and compare you to others without offering constructive guidance, which will feel more like personal criticism than professional development. Over time, their behaviour will shift to excluding you from key projects while offering more opportunities to newer strategists, making it feel like you’re being intentionally pushed aside. Their rigid, unhelpful approach and refusal to provide clear direction hinder growth and deeply affect your confidence and motivation. Ultimately, their actions create a toxic and unsupportive work environment, making it difficult to succeed or feel valued. Also, when you bring these problems to leadership and HR, the Strategy Director will take it personally and put you on a PIP to threaten you. Unfortunately, the leadership will take the toxic manager’s side instead of trying to find a solution.