Lost focus - Anonymous employee LHH Employee Review

1.0
10 Jan 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The organisation has some amazing talent, particularly at the junior levels and amongst the Coaching population which goes unrecognised and unrewarded

Cons

The acquisition of Penna by LHH has been disastrous. The cultures are not aligned and Senior Management lack the experience to bring the two organisations together. Systems, processes and cutting costs are the focus, client focus has been lost somewhere along the way. To get anywhere you have to appear engaged and positive and completely on board with all the changes being made. Outwardly many colleagues are displaying this but behind closed doors almost everyone is disappointed with the direction the company is taking. The clique in London amongst 'the favourites' is impenetrable which is unfortunate for all those talented individuals who are not in the club.

avatar
LHH Response
9y
We're concerned to hear this feedback and disappointed that this has been your experience. We appreciate that the organisation has been through a great deal of change in recent months, which is often unsettling and that is regrettable. However, as we advocate to clients who we provide consultancy to on organisational change, from workforce transformation comes great opportunity to build better careers and better businesses and that is what we want to achieve for Lee Hecht Harrison Penna and its people. We genuinely believe that this is an exciting time to be part of the LHH Penna team as we develop new services and products that combine the experience and expertise of two very successful legacy organisations. It is still relatively early days in our transformation as the acquisition completed in May 2016,but already we have in place strong leadership at all levels throughout the organisation that have a lot of passion for what they do and fresh ideas for how we move the business forward in an exciting new direction. We are investing greatly in our people so we can achieve our ambitious goals for the future. Having just completed a multi-million pound renovation of our London office, we have removed the physical barriers between colleagues to lay the foundations for a collaborative culture to develop and work together to support the evolving needs of our clients. We always welcome feedback from our employees as well as clients and customers and provide lots of opportunities for everyone’s views and suggestions to be heard ( anonymously if preferred) on every aspect of our culture, services and environment. Whether it be from our monthly engagement surveys, director dinners and knowledge exchanges or from more ad-hoc conversations and suggestions, the leadership team review all of the feedback every month as a team and commit to taking steps to act on any feedback received.

Explore other reviews about LHH

5.0
30 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good compensation Lots of jobs to work on

Cons

A lot of leadership changes and compensation changes

1.0
15 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The team was one of the strongest aspects of the organization, with many supportive and hardworking colleagues. PTO and time-off benefits were competitive, including occasional early-release days and additional time-off opportunities throughout the year.

Cons

The company culture has significantly declined in recent years, leading to lower employee morale and engagement. Micromanagement became increasingly common, while transparency and trust diminished. Although remote work was heavily promoted, there has been a shift toward a hybrid/in-office model. Office conditions often created challenges, including recurring maintenance issues and an open floor plan that made it difficult to focus and conduct private conversations or meetings. Compensation has not remained competitive with market expectations, making it increasingly difficult for employees to achieve strong earnings. Comparable staffing firms in the industry often offer higher compensation while providing similar benefits and time-off programs. As a result, retaining experienced recruiters and top performers has become increasingly challenging. Work-life balance also suffered due to the pressure of meeting KPIs and performance metrics, often requiring work outside of normal business hours to remain competitive and meet expectations. Employee engagement initiatives and team-building activities that once contributed to a positive environment have largely disappeared. There has also been noticeable turnover among tenured employees and top performers, raising concerns about retention and overall organizational direction.

4
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All