1. Dysfunctional leadership:
For a company with < than 50 employees, the lack of communication and alignment is striking. While publicly promoting values like collaboration and open dialogue, internal operations reflect the exact opposite.
Some members of leadership frequently send mixed messages, shift tone unpredictably, and respond poorly to questions or delays in understanding. The behaviour fluctuates between pressure, dismissal, and forced friendliness, creating a work environment that feels unstable and performative. Constructive feedback is rare; inconsistent reactions are the norm.
2. Onboarding in name only:
New employees are reassured that not knowing everything is acceptable and that help will be provided, but this message quickly proves empty. Expectations are immediate and high, with little to no actual support. The result is a silent demand for perfection, disguised as an “understanding” culture.
3. Silence, imbalance, and self-congratulation:
Team movements happen without explanation. Some colleagues are visibly underloaded (to the point of streaming shows during working hours), while others face excessive workloads without acknowledgment or redistribution. Meanwhile, overconfidence and self-promotion are widespread, even when basic coordination fails. There’s little incentive to question this imbalance, the louder the self-praise, the more untouchable one becomes.
4. Blurred lines and selective standards:
Behaviours that should raise concern, like: smoking in private offices, public ridicule of colleagues, visible affair between leadership member and junior staff — are met with silence. One such relationship appears to grant access to confidential information far beyond professional boundaries.
A culture of exclusivity and status dominates: image outweighs substance, and judgement flows freely, especially towards those outside the “inner circle.” Observing the disconnect between words and actions becomes uncomfortable, even surreal. At times, it feels like reality is suspended to maintain appearances.
