Pros
AI first. The change management hasn’t been great, the AI strategy is reactive and changes frequently but it’s cool to be part of a company adopting AI fast. Leadership aren’t afraid to fail fast. Peer relationships across the company have never been more valuable, working in these unusual conditions creates bonds for life and humor is the only way through.
Cons
Business outlook appears bleak. This year the deals keep slipping and client churn is increasing to a concerning rate. It’s possible clients are seeing the same red flags as employees. The business is profitable following multiple large headcount reductions, but it’s the long term sustainability and future of the business that’s in question. Leadership is driving a fear-based culture. High turnover, there are departures most weeks which creates chaos and high workloads. It seems that the majority of people now are in survival mode. Concerns raised don’t appear to receive any response or are met with resistance. The team worry if they are next to lose their job, instead of focusing on the business, client needs, innovation and growth. Constant observations of concerning management techniques being used to hold employees accountable and quiet firing to manage employees out. Copperleaf’s engagement score dropped extremely low but it didn’t seem to be taken seriously. The President shared in a town hall that disengagement is a result of employee mindset. One slide was a bus he’d drawn in Microsoft Paint and said those who aren’t ‘on the bus’ should leave. The disengaged employees were shown holding axes and standing in front of the bus which looked like it was driving towards them. Even some of the leadership team looked shocked and uncomfortable. It’s a pretty dark metaphor but it actually represents what’s happening here. Dissent is a threat to be squashed. I assume that it was an intentional acquisition strategy to strip out Copperleaf’s previous culture and put in aggressive leadership as IFS leadership hasn’t stepped in to improve the situation. It appears they are going for full culture override rather than culture integration, which is a risky and rarely successful acquisition strategy. This environment isn’t for the faint hearted. It values unsustainable short term profit over everything.
