The toxicity, anxiety, and frustration that plagues the culture at ZG has little to nothing to do with a majority of the people there, but unfortunately, the top offenders are those at the very top of the ladder.
The CEO has habitually driven people away (over 10 people quit in my 1.5 years at ZG alone — and half a dozen more have left since). In addition to micromanaging and bottlenecking projects while demanding that people shift any and all personal or professional obligations (client work included) aside at a moment's notice to accommodate her every whim, she is also notorious for manipulating and abusing her employees emotionally.
Simply put, her people do not matter to her. She does not care about them as individuals and she is so consumed by maintaining her image and ZG's rapidly-deteriorating reputation that she blatantly ignores and adamantly disregards her employees' needs, concerns, and constructive feedback. Whenever team members or mid-level managers challenged these poor practices or fought to improve them, they were either blatantly ignored, strategically excommunicated or, on more than one occasion, spontaneously fired via TEXT (yes, really.)
The CEO's mismanagement during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is just one example of her lack of humanity, compassion, and leadership capabilities. While most organizations remained in a remote setup until their people could safely and/or comfortably return to the office (ie.) after vaccinations were available for themselves and any loved ones they needed to protect) the CEO made the return mandatory the moment she could do so without legal penalty - 7 weeks in, for those wondering. Of the 25 people that were on the staff at that time, 13 contracted the virus after our return. Not only that, but when they did get sick, the response from the CEO was devoid of any human compassion, concern, or understanding. A copy/pasted email from the CEO's lawyer was sent out every time someone got sick, reminding the rest of us that Zizzo Group was not technically responsible for the illness and could therefore not be held accountable. Those who got sick were instructed to use PTO time for their remote quarantine and were only permitted to do so for 2-3 business days, regardless of how they were feeling or if they'd fully recovered. The cherry on top? Many of these emails were sent from the CEO and her legal team remotely, as she spent a majority of the early pandemic either "traveling" or working from her vacation home in another state.
The most egregious disappointment for me personally came after I'd already left the company, only to learn that a handful of my previous team members had been tricked into signing unbreakable 2-year contracts upon receiving well-deserved but severely delayed "promotions" —many resulting from a team member having to absorb additional duties when someone else quit.
I want to be clear, these "contracts" were never openly discussed and they most certainly were not consensual. Technically speaking, they weren't even contracts. The same legal team responsible for the COVID-19 response found a way to bind these employees to Zizzo Group upon their written or verbal acceptance of their position advancement. As this crooked tactic had never previously been instituted, many only found out about this legal tether when they tried to leave ZG, only to be met with a threatening email from the CEO and her lawyer. A handful of current employees have had to turn down other job offers and opportunities because the CEO is holding them at ZG against their will. Employee retention: that's not how it works.
