Where to start…
- talented individuals continually leaving (no surprises why). The turnover of employees was shocking.
- the bonus scheme was farcical. Paying bonuses sometimes up to 10 months later than the end of the year it was for. And then a ridiculous clause saying they would claw it back if you tried to leave within the following 6 months (clearly the bonus was a poor attempt at retention rather than honouring employees hard work)
- the company values stood for nothing - the leaders of this business did not role model them and they only cared about the commercials - to the detriment of their employees.
- the way they treated their staff was abysmal, even employees they believed were good. Lots of secret exits, restructuring with no clear explanation to the rest of the business etc and restructuring and just expecting the rest of the team to pick up the extra work for no extra pay.
- there were a few middle level managers who were not pleasant to be around and they always seemed to get away with anything they did or said
- within my team, it was very cliquey and it got to the point where I did not feel psychologically safe. I had not realised until I left the business, and started a new role, just how important it was to be surrounded by kind and genuine team members. Sadly I did not have those at Cluttons.