LEADERSHIP:
I resigned from this role because of the work environment and culture. I found the owner to be a disorganized and emotionally immature leader. They never addressed me by my name despite calling others by theirs in the same room, and would sometimes even opt to speak about me as “she” or “her” to others while I was present. They chose to speak to me in a belittling and disrespectful manner, which led me to the decision to walk away. From the stories I’d heard, and my own observations and experiences, the higher up’s here essentially push their employees to grin and bear it, apologizing for the owner's behavior since he is incapable of doing it himself. All of this perpetuates a toxic office culture where everyone essentially has to be a “yes man” to leadership, enabling their own mistreatment.
FROM A DESIGN PERSPECTIVE:
During my time here, the company was in the process of planning out the launch of a new venture. As the only designer on the team, I was brought into the fold to develop the brand and design collateral. The issue with Lotus is there is no understanding of time and workload for a designer. Everything I worked on for this new business venture would drag out—round after round after round (i.e., people not knowing what they want)—and demand my attention away from an often overwhelming amount of other deadlines. There was no PM when I was working, and the creative briefs lacked an outline on turnover time between rounds and a cap on the number of rounds allowed. The briefs would also often feel restrictive and vague: a screenshot or two of inspo found online, and sometimes just an AI-generated composition they had ChatGPT fashion together (ick). I quickly learned that these inspo images were essentially what I was expected to churn out—a replica of sorts. This approach leaves little to no room for designers to creatively solve an ask. Reducing designers to executing visions limits their value. I urge you, if you’re a fellow creative considering accepting a role here, to really think on this.
I also wasn’t given a laptop, and the computer I worked on had the ghost of every past designer on it. The logins to essential accounts (Adobe, the stock site they use, etc.) were all under a past designer’s email account. The lack of an IT department was apparent from the start. Design files are spread across a stack of external hard drives and are organized however each past designer saw fit.
OVERALL:
The office conditions were also less than ideal. Mice problems, poor heating and air, slow internet speeds, power outages, etc. Being told to come in every day only added to my frustration with Lotus due to the lack of comfort the office offered.
It was said that the company returned to enforcing a strictly in-person office policy after the former marketing team abused remote/hybrid work, though a select few were oddly favored over others, having been given laptops and allowed to choose when they came in. Whether or not you can work from home should not be determined by whether you’ve curried enough favor with the “right people”. Either enforce an in-office work policy office-wide or don't. Distrust is an odd choice to lead with, and it doesn’t breed positive morale or autonomy in your workforce.
Finally, three months into the new year, I still never saw the holiday schedule—not that it mattered much, since the previous year’s holiday schedule was already lackluster (7 days total observed holidays). By the time I wrapped up my tenure here at six months, I had also accrued just three days of PTO.
I know this review is a lot, but these are all things I would have loved to know before deciding to join the team. I hope it helps someone make a more informed decision.
