TL;DR: Trouble ahead, do not come here.
Reading the older reviews prior to 2014 is insightful. There are similarities between then and now. Some teams are staffed with inexperienced or hands-off people that do not believe in accountability or contributing meaningful work. These problematic teams relegate decisions and interpretations to other teams, then take credit in the name of "cross team collaboration." A team comes to mind specifically more than any others (begins with "Prod" and ends with "duct"). Perhaps this is why inter-team dynamics have been a problem for the company for so long (and this is backed up by employee survey results). This could be a result of department managers that are themselves inexperienced and/or lacking knowledge/skills to perform the job and make solid decisions. More often than not, these managers seem threatened by those underneath them who are halfway capable.
Most of all, CEO is the root of problems afflicting the company. He has not demonstrated a good judgment of character, as he brings in people from his orbit and leaves them to trample on worker bees that are trying to save a dying product. And when people complain about these problematic directors/managers, HR will do absolutely nothing. Employees have left because of CEO's reluctance to address these problematic directors/execs.
The statement is not based on imaginations. HR knows this, as people have spoken about these issues during exit interviews. You say "we wished people spoke up earlier," but they won't because employees will be afraid of retaliation. Employees have also lost confidence that their voices will be heard. As long as HR sits on the sidelines doing nothing to repair the toxic culture, there will continue to be a succession of people resigning to leave their misery behind.
And another thing, HR: I already see your response coming. "Thank you for your feedback, but your comments are not consistent with our VOE surveys." To which I say: Look at the departures, look at the NPS scores that are often cited. And survey participation rate is also telling; what you don't know are people who have stopped responding to the surveys because they know nothing will come of it. Beneath the pleasantries, most of the people leaving have done so ultimately because of failures to address issues that goes all the way back to the very top of the management chain. Add to that, competent employees don't recommend friends to work here. It's an embarrassment to tell people where I work, since most of the time the response is "Evite? They're still around?"
