The Collecting Group Reviews

I was hired to help mature the tech team and introduce more scalable, agile practices. I’ve successfully done this for larger organisations, but this experience was one of the worst of my career. From the outset, I encountered strong resistance to change and a culture where bullying, exclusion, and ridicule were tolerated. Efforts to implement even the very basic engineering practices, like small PRs and frequent code reviews, were dismissed or actively undermined. I was repeatedly told to "get the team onside," but was given no support when faced with toxic behaviours. The bullying and bad behaviour by certain senior staff is acknowledged by tech management, but any attempts to combat it is non-existent. They don't want change, they want you to assimilate. I was still told to "meet the team halfway" almost 18 months later, when they hadn't moved an inch. The team overall have no desire to move forward. The leadership is weak, and everything is on fire. Staff who don't comply and fit in with the chaos are simply removed, as this is easier than tackling the real issues. There are a handful of good devs whom I made the mistake of thinking I could trust. I have worked with many people across all aspects of tech, who I would consider top of their game. Sadly, none came from TCG. Every single individual in the tech team (apart from devops and possibly one dev) would be significantly outclassed in a larger company. The environment is deeply hierarchical, with certain individuals blocking progress and fostering stagnation. Attempts to collaborate are often met with sarcasm and stonewalling. There is a culture of blame rather than teamwork. Learning, making mistakes or even asking for help was used against me, which was a whole new experience. The agile prime directive is an alien concept here. Communication on the whole is unbelievably poor. I was excluded from key meetings and communications, making it difficult to perform my role. Decisions were often made in closed circles, with outcomes later used to shift blame. In one instance, I was held accountable for something discussed by the CEO in a meeting I hadn’t been invited to! This felt unfair and undermined my ability to contribute effectively. In another instance, I was blamed for not managing another developer’s performance, a responsibility never assigned to me! Despite this, I worked hard to deliver high-quality work, including a major rebuild project. Even after successfully completing it, I was dismissed with no warning and little explanation, leaving me feeling deeply undervalued. The project was deemed to be of poor quality, this was news to me. Posts on LinkedIn shortly after praising the project's stability proved otherwise! The timing of this dismissal, just before my planned time off and bank holidays, seemed very spiteful. I had no 1:1s or any conversations about my performance in the lead up to my dismissal; the last conversations I had were about promotion. The experience has severely impacted my well-being. I left each day feeling demoralised, despite doing my utmost to contribute positively. Prospective employees should be aware that bullying behaviours are not addressed here, and the culture can be hostile to those trying to drive improvement. They have driven my depression to a point that it is negatively affecting my family life. I wish I had never been drawn in by the shiny cars. Since leaving, I have had no contact from anyone in the team or in HR. No exit interview, they don't want to hear what goes on, which is disappointing.