The business has grown so fast that there’s a surprising amount of immaturity in systems, processes, and thinking that have yet to catch up. Success has come in spite of an outdated, unreliable website, which you’d think would be priority one at an online retailer. Buying customers on search ads resulted in exploding sales early on, meaning a strong brand foundation and understanding of customers went by the wayside. It’s been difficult for some to change that mindset even while competition for paid ads has increased.
Recent organizational changes have some questioning the future of the company and if the leaders are more interested growing the business or their own piece of it. The new strategic values say the company values transparency, hiring and keeping talented people, and “winning and losing together.” Actions say otherwise.
Transparency
There is an overwhelming uneasiness among staff that any day they could arrive at work with a new boss, or no job at all, with little notice or justification -- only sanitized explanations, unclear reasoning, and aggression toward anyone who asks questions.
Hiring and Keeping Talent / Winning and Losing Together
Cronyism is so blatantly accepted to be almost unbelievable. Positions and promotions are invented to reward friends. Whole departments have been reorganized, cleared out, or left in the last few years, either because they challenged the established way of thinking or to make it possible for an exec team member to oust a rival or expand power.
Talented people leave because they don’t want to put up with the nonsense. Many more would escape if a decent opportunity came along.
