A Disheartening Culture of Gaslighting - Operations Moneybox Employee Review

Unfortunately, the People team lacks the empathy and emotional intelligence required to support employees in a meaningful or effective way. HR interactions often feel transactional at best, with little trust that employee concerns will be heard or acted upon. The pay, performance, and progression (PPP) framework is fundamentally broken. It’s used more as a carrot-dangling tool than a legitimate pathway for development. You can meet all objectives set by your manager, perform well, and still be passed over for promotion without any clear or honest explanation. It creates an environment where outcomes feel arbitrary, and where employees are left in the dark. The company frequently promotes its “comprehensive” bi-annual salary benchmarking, claiming to compare externally across the industry. In reality, there’s no transparency around this process. I saw first-hand that advertised salaries for roles were often reduced over time, and only increased again when applications dried up. That’s not benchmarking - that’s reactive, short-term decision-making. One of the biggest traps to be aware of is the equity offering. New joiners are often told that share options make up for lower base salaries or the lack of an annual bonus. But the likelihood is that you’ll be underpaid by 15–20% relative to market for several years until those shares vest. If you decide to leave, especially for a competitor (which in this space includes most other ISA providers and Fintech’s), your shares are confiscated and the company may even take legal action to block your move. It’s a one-sided arrangement that disproportionately punishes junior and mid-level staff. They claim this practice is “industry standard,” but what’s really jarring is the inconsistency: if you raise concerns about your pay or progression, you’re often ignored and treated as replaceable. But if you try to leave, they suddenly care - not to retain you, but to penalise you. I saw entire teams in Operations turn over by 50% or more, and leadership seemed surprised when that caused performance issues. The lack of logic and care in decision-making is staggering.