- Leadership and Communication: The CEO’s language in internal communications was often unprofessional, degrading, and fear-inducing. His lack of trust in employees was evident in his tendency to micromanage every team.
- High Staff Turnover: Staff turnover was unusually high, with employees leaving or being laid off nearly every week during my time at the company. Departures were often abrupt, without any communication to the wider team. On a few occasions, I only realised someone had left because their Slack account was deactivated. When I asked senior management about the reasons for these departures, I was simply told, "it was not a match."
- Insufficient Support and High Expectations: While high-quality work was expected, support from senior management was minimal. This made it very difficult for staff to meet expectations without adequate guidance.
- Client vs Internal Relations: Ironically, client interactions often felt more genuine and personable than internal ones. Within the company, there was minimal focus on employee well-being. It was standard practice to keep cameras off during internal calls. With remote work and limited in-person meetings, it was easy to feel isolated and disconnected.
- Lack of Structure and Knowledge Gaps: Frequent staff changes made it nearly impossible to establish consistent processes or team structure. New hires rarely overlapped with their predecessors, resulting in significant knowledge gaps. Additionally, there was little onboarding support, and new employees were expected to operate independently from day one pretty much.
