Komodo Reviews

Senior leadership can feel insular, with several key decision-makers having long-standing personal relationships that can create a perception of a clique-like culture. At times, informal relationships appear to carry more influence than clearly defined business processes or objective decision-making. There is a significant lack of clarity around roles, responsibilities and ownership across the business. Employees are frequently expected to operate outside their remit, while accountability and decision-making authority remain unclear. Despite hiring experienced senior talent, there is a tendency towards micromanagement and centralised decision-making. This can limit autonomy, slow progress and create frustration for employees who were brought in to lead and drive change. The business has ambitious growth goals, but operational structures, processes and resource planning have not evolved at the same pace with a lack of knowledge of how to. Teams are often expected to absorb increasing workloads without sufficient support, resulting in avoidable pressure and burnout. Strategic direction can shift frequently, making it difficult to align teams around a consistent long-term vision. Priorities regularly change, leading to duplicated effort, inefficiencies and confusion across departments. Communication between senior stakeholders can be fragmented, resulting in mixed messages, conflicting feedback and last-minute changes that impact both employees and clients. The HR/ people function feels disconnected from the day-to-day reality of the business, sitting in an entirely different country. Employee concerns are not always handled with the transparency, consistency or urgency expected, which can leave staff feeling unsupported. There can be a perceived inconsistency in accountability across the business. Concerns raised about senior individuals are not always addressed with the same level of transparency or urgency expected, which can create a sense that certain behaviours are overlooked depending on an individual’s position within the organisation. The agency positions itself as a creative-first business, however there appears to be a lack of investment in senior creative capability and creative leadership. This can create a gap between the ambition of the work being sold and the expertise, structure and resource available to deliver it effectively. Career progression, performance management and development pathways lack transparency, making it difficult for employees to understand how success is measured or what opportunities exist for advancement. Overall, there is a strong focus on growth and new business, but insufficient attention paid to building the leadership structure, operational foundations and employee experience required to support that growth sustainably.