Working here is soul-destroying; it’s rife with corporate jargon, nonsense time-wasting, and Soviet-style snitching. Process is worshipped and common sense is almost non-existent, but most depressing is the ruthless cynicism with which good will and philanthropy are exploited for the sake of commercial gain.
The c-level leadership group are a charming combination of being completely shameless, and oblivious. They are obsessed with a culture of ‘holding people to account’ and studiously ‘cascade’ this approach to the rest of the company, while sweeping their own numerous blunders and misfires under the carpet. Number 1 on their agenda is usually rustling up a scapegoat or two to blame for an inevitable outcome of one of the numerous fundamental issues in product and structure, of which they were architects. Number 2 is organising a webinar.
There are lols to be found here and there: the levels of delusion are painfully Gervais-esque, and the approach to ‘supporting mental health in the workplace’ is comically ham-fisted and disingenuous. They treat their employees like absolute rubbish, all the while honking about ‘wellbeing’ on social media and schilling ‘a sense of employee belonging’ (laughably presented as some kind of quantifiable scientific concept) to their clients. They were genuinely stumped when their HR software wasn’t flying out the door in the midst of a pandemic-induced recession, never mind the fact that their particular brand of snake oil costs tens of thousands of pounds. Their solution (as always) was to blame their employees, and then chase or chuck a few of them out the door. They fired or made redundant 20% of the company in just over a year (and another 10% left of their own accord), and in that time they showed no evidence of common sense, empathy, or self-reflection.
Not only is the way they treat people morally bankrupt but the way they pursue business is unethical, verging on fraudulent. Continuing to aggressively push the sale of products which, based on all metrics, are failing, means they are knowingly taking money ear-marked for charitable causes for their own commercial gain, and under false pretences. The carefree relationship with the truth, combined with dogged travel down a cliff-bound path at breakneck speed (money-snatching all the way) while ludicrously exclaiming that everything is fine, feels truly sociopathic. And the ra-ra-ra mentality and lobotomised regurgitation of mottos and spin is disturbing.
To posture as anything even close to a ‘mission-driven organisation’ is ludicrous. It’s clear that the goal of the genius brigade pulling the strings is to transform their ‘social enterprise’ into a software as service company to be sold in five years or less. Which is fine, just go easy on the charade that your ‘tech' aka GCSE Computer Science Squarespace website, is solving world hunger, when it’s just bringing another Cotswolds home into the property portfolio. The occasional perfunctory reference to the ‘impact’ the company is having (presumably by offering digital mentoring to large corporates in the notoriously ethical pharmaceutical and mining industries) is embarrassingly phoney.
Ultimately, there is a pervasive meanness of spirit packaged up in nauseating slogans. They are completely shameless in their use of the so-called ‘social mission’ to support their money grab, and their true mission is transparent: commercial growth at any cost, including integrity, morals, and the staff.
It’s a chop shop. Steer clear.
