- Inflexible hybrid policy: A three-days-a-week office mandate was introduced as a form of collective punishment for the underperformance of a few, undermining trust.
- Misguided progression system: Career advancement is explicitly tied to office attendance through a "progression track." Employees are incentivized to exceed the mandate (e.g., working four days) to accelerate promotions, prioritizing presence over performance.
- Stagnant career growth: Despite many years of service and consistently positive feedback in 1:1s and appraisals, my career stalled while peers advanced. Promotion only occurred immediately after I secured an external job offer, suggesting a pattern of being led on to retain me in a junior role.
- Significant attrition: The company has experienced a notable exodus of talent, leaving few colleagues to collaborate with or learn from, which diminishes the culture and value of being in the office.
- Ineffective staff meetings: Mandatory staff meetings consistently lacked valuable content, often devolving into unproductive sessions where leadership prioritised attempts at comedy over clear communication.
- Poorly executed DEI commitments: - Inclusion and diversity is very important at any company, but Four prioritised this over experience… so instead of hiring candidates that were the perfect fit for the job, they went with the best diversity hire just to make sure they looked like an inclusive company. Again diversity is important, but hiring someone without the right expertise simply due to their race or religion is not good.
