1. No clear strategy or measurable goals
* Unstable workforce planning: At times the company pushes to hire beyond actual delivery demand, increasing COGs and overhead without clear utilization plans. This results in idle capacity in some periods, then sudden pressure in others.
* Inefficient compensation practices: Compensation is not consistently aligned to market realities or performance, which has contributed to losing high-caliber talent over the last two years.
* Product investment without the fundamentals: Significant investment is made into “products” without a real product management function (ownership, roadmap discipline, market validation, pricing, go-to-market), and without strong alignment with sales. The result is high burn with limited market traction.
* No meaningful KPIs for technical growth: Many Technical teams operate without clear KPIs that connect engineering outcomes to business value, and without consistent career growth frameworks (levels, promotion criteria, skill expectations, learning paths).
2. Unclear place of of some technical units in the org hierarchy or inconsistency from the announced structure and the real-situation
* Frequent restructuring with no governance: The structure changes repeatedly, often driven by internal debates and conflicts rather than a stable operating model. “Restructuring” is discussed frequently, but execution and enforcement are weak, so it does not translate into real improvements.
* Overlapping mandates causing internal competition: Similar capabilities exist across multiple departments with unclear ownership boundaries. This creates unnecessary internal competition (“wars”), duplication of work, and misaligned priorities.
* No enforced technology vision: There is no consistent, company-wide technology strategy enforced across teams, which makes prioritization and decision-making highly fragmented.
* Lack of auditability: Decisions, approvals, and outcomes are not consistently audited. Without transparent governance and accountability, systemic problems repeat at this large scale.
3. Losing top candidates due to compensation and lack of investment in people
* Offers and adjustments not competitive: Strong candidates and high performers are lost because compensation is not addressed proactively and consistently.
* No learning & development budget: Over the last couple of years, there has been limited or no structured investment in upskilling (training budgets, certifications, conferences). Technical talent development is treated as optional rather than essential.
4. Heavy bureaucracy impacting productivity and delivery
* HR responsiveness is weak: HR requests can remain unresolved for extended periods; even basic processes are inconsistent.
* IT support is not reliable: IT tickets may be closed without resolution and responsiveness is poor. In extreme cases, employees can remain under-equipped for long periods, which is unacceptable for technical roles.
* Operational delays waste money: Delays in finance workflows (e.g., payment processing for cloud services/tools) can block teams and cause idle time, wasting significant cost and jeopardizing delivery commitments.
* Approvals are inconsistent and subjective: Expense/travel/per diem/timesheet approvals are not consistently governed or audited and can vary depending on the project manager and informal relationships. This creates perceived unfairness and damages trust.
