Pros
Some really talented individuals, and some great teams within silos (the silo approach is far from a pro though!) CEO is very talented, but this just feels too much for her. She's very analytical, but this is a real hinderance to the business at times. Product development
Cons
There is an overriding feeling of vulnerability and frustration from most non-ex-Dyson staff that you could be replaced at any time, with no notice. It feels as though if you haven’t had previous experience of working with the CEO or CPO, you have no voice, shown very little respect and are truly not given the chance to work to your potential. The structure is so top heavy, and the level of arrogance amongst the ‘inner circle’ is laughable. The CEO is driven purely by data, at minute detail, yet there is very little accurate historical data to work with, as the business only started trading properly in Spring 2020, during the height of the pandemic, and sales figures can only reflect what stock they were actually able to source during this time of incredibly low availability across the sector. Drawing upon people’s experience within the sector, and part-using their skilled intuitive approaches should be taken into account for guidance, but a well educated/experienced opinion is not even considered as a resource to her. All that matters is data….even though there is very little, and it’s not reliable. We all knew bringing a new CEO into the business, that things may need to slow down whilst she took over the reigns. However 9 months in, and things are still so incredibly slow, that it is very alarming. Meetings involve too many people, yet getting decisions made is always such a lengthy process, with most people seemingly too worried to take accountability, or not wanting to have to take on the extra work load of building yet another business case. The CEO outrightly lies, with no provocation, and the CPO is the least sincere person I have met through work. They talk convincingly, but it’s all lip-service. And for the CPO to run a ‘balancing work and home life’ workshop, and her core advice being ‘ensure you have a great support network through friends and family’, was mind blowing. She is unable to address simple HR questions without stumbling before avoiding, and cares only for herself, or perhaps the completely overloaded HR department she has built around her as well. What was once was an exciting fast-paced start-up with a great soul, is now a corporate, process-driven, super slow paced, volatile, greenwashing business. (A ‘green’ company filling the kettle with 75cl plastic bottles during a refurbishment of the office, and being made to go in, when completely unnecessary?!). A lot of new roles have been created, or people swapped out for new, but so often these changes feel out of line with what the business actually needs, and obviously continue to slow things down whilst each person starts afresh to lay their mark. If she afforded the people she didn’t previously know, the time to do their jobs, the salary overhead would be far lower than it is, and the business would also be running more effectively and efficiently. There are some amazingly talented people (old and new), but with the CEO being such a control freak, very few people are allowed to actually just get on with their work efficiently or with trust, and people are leaving at a rapid rate due to the frustrations, culture and uneasiness of how secure their role, or the business is.
