Our CEO Showed Us Where the Door Is. Turns Out, People Walked Through It.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
The biggest improvement would be to address the underlying workload and staffing situation rather than continuously expecting existing employees to compensate for missing resources.
If employees leave, their responsibilities need to be reassessed and either redistributed realistically or the positions need to be replaced. Otherwise, overtime simply becomes the mechanism through which organizational problems are transferred to employees.
I would also recommend investing more in experienced employees and making retention of institutional knowledge a strategic priority. Losing senior employees is particularly costly when there is no adequate succession plan.
Finally, management communication should become more closely connected to concrete action. Employees are generally capable of understanding difficult business situations; what becomes frustrating is hearing that problems are being addressed without seeing meaningful changes in day-to-day operations.
There are definitely good people, interesting technical challenges and opportunities for personal development within the company. With better staffing, stronger retention of experienced employees and more decisive action from senior management, the overall employee experience could improve considerably.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
There is plenty of space to breathe in the office. Many desks are empty, which creates a generally calm and quiet atmosphere. The physical environment is therefore pleasant, although the atmosphere within the teams can be noticeably more strained when workloads become excessive.
Image
The company's image appears to have suffered significantly in recent years. Customers are increasingly dissatisfied, while employees are also expressing frustration with the internal situation. When both sides of the relationship are unhappy, this inevitably affects how the company is perceived externally.
I really hope management finds a way to rebuild trust with both customers and employees.
Work-Life-Balance
Working overtime has unfortunately become the norm for many employees. A significant number of people have left or been let go without being adequately replaced, while the overall workload has remained largely unchanged.
As a result, teams that previously had twice as many employees are now expected to handle essentially the same workload. This creates a considerable amount of pressure and makes maintaining a healthy work-life balance increasingly difficult.
The problem is not occasional overtime during particularly demanding periods; it is that additional workload has increasingly become structural rather than exceptional.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
This is one of the more positive aspects. I have generally been able to pursue the certifications and training I wanted, provided that the company could also benefit from the additional knowledge and skills I gained.
There is therefore a good opportunity for employees who are motivated to develop themselves and can demonstrate how their development contributes to the company.
Gehalt/Benefits
Most employees are quite unhappy with the compensation.
Especially when the workload and expectations increase, the compensation does not always appear to reflect the actual responsibilities or the level of expertise required.
The benefits package also does not stand out particularly compared with what is offered by other companies in the industry.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
There appears to be limited investment in employee health, well-being and team cohesion.
There is no particularly visible company-wide program aimed at promoting employee well-being. Likewise, there are relatively few initiatives to strengthen team spirit, such as proper company retreats, team events or other activities that bring employees together outside of their daily work.
Given the current situation, initiatives in this area could make a meaningful difference.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
The sense of solidarity within the team is strong. In difficult circumstances, colleagues generally support one another and work together to keep things running.
Ironically, difficult circumstances may be one of the reasons the team has become so close. Going through challenging situations together creates a strong bond.
However, there is a limit to how sustainable this is. It is difficult to genuinely enjoy working together when everyone is constantly under pressure and overworked. Strong colleagues can compensate for structural problems for a while, but they cannot compensate for them indefinitely.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
There does not appear to be a particularly strong retention strategy for experienced and senior employees.
When experienced employees leave and their positions are not adequately replaced, the company loses not only manpower but also a considerable amount of institutional knowledge.
This can also create the impression that such positions can easily be replaced. Which is not the case.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
My direct manager has been supportive and approachable, and I have generally had a good experience with my immediate management.
However, there is significant room for improvement at the senior-management level. Many of the problems employees experience appear to be related less to individual managers and more to decisions made further up the organization.
There seems to be a gap between what is communicated at management level and what employees actually experience in their daily work.
Arbeitsbedingungen
The office itself is good and provides a comfortable working environment. There is plenty of space, and the basic infrastructure is adequate.
Beyond that, however, there are not many particular perks or incentives that make working here stand out. At least the coffee is free.
Kommunikation
It feels like top-level management has only recently started focusing more seriously on management and internal communication. The increased effort to communicate more frequently is certainly a positive development.
However, communication alone is not enough. It often feels as though management does not fully understand the underlying problems employees are facing.
There is a noticeable difference between communicating that a problem exists and actually addressing the structural causes behind it. Employees would likely appreciate fewer high-level messages and more concrete action on the issues being raised.
Gleichberechtigung
I have not personally experienced any major issues regarding equal treatment and therefore cannot provide a particularly meaningful assessment of this area.
From my perspective, however, there is still room for greater transparency around career progression, responsibilities and compensation.
Interessante Aufgaben
The work itself is very interesting and challenging. There is always something new to learn, and the variety of tasks provides plenty of opportunities to grow professionally.
One downside is that the loss of experienced employees can make certain situations considerably more difficult. There are increasingly cases where you encounter a problem for which there used to be a clear internal point of contact, but that person is no longer there.
This creates a difficult situation: you are given more responsibility and are expected to solve increasingly complex problems, while at the same time some of the expertise and support that previously existed within the organization has disappeared.
For someone who wants to learn and take on responsibility, there is therefore a lot of opportunity. The question is whether the company provides enough support to make that responsibility sustainable.