A Masterclass in corporate priorities!
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
The people who actually do the work. Some genuinely talented colleagues, interesting projects and the occasional reminder that the company could be quite good if it focused more on delivering work and less on managing perceptions.
Also, the sound healing is certainly memorable.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
The disconnect between the company's priorities and the reality of the people doing the work. Employees are told to be more profitable while workloads grow, clients are taken on without sufficient capacity, promotions move at glacial speed and salaries lag behind responsibilities. Meanwhile, HR has enough spare capacity for piano sessions, energy drums, sound healing and workshops on time and energy management.
There is something particularly amusing about being taught how to manage your time and energy by people who seem to have very little idea what the actual workload looks like
It is a fascinating model: the people generating the revenue are told to optimise their productivity, while the people responsible for the vibes are apparently optimising their chakras on company hours.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Perhaps spend a little less time on sound healing, energy drums and office piano sessions, and a little more time addressing the reasons people are stressed enough to need sound healing in the first place.
Set realistic client expectations. Stop selling more work than teams have hours to deliver. Make promotions and salary progression transparent. And perhaps consider rewarding competence with recognition rather than simply assigning it more work.
Also, if profitability is such a pressing concern, it might be worth examining whether the solution is actually fewer people doing more work while others organise the vibes.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
-This is for the BRATISLAVA OFFICE since there is no separate entity-
Depends largely on whether you are one of management's favourites. Otherwise, expect a healthy combination of politics, egos and carefully managed good vibes.
Image
Strong emphasis on appearing progressive, people-focused and full of good vibes. The branding is certainly more polished than some of the underlying management practices.
Work-Life-Balance
Quite manageable if you are not one of the people management considers competent.
The company is perfectly happy to hire people who don't necessarily have the qualifications or experience for the role, while the actual workload tends to land on the people who can reliably get things done.
So if you have the qualifications for the job, are competent and have a strong work ethic, congratulations! You have just volunteered for additional work. If, on the other hand, you are looking for somewhere that will happily hire you without the qualifications and where you can coast without attracting too much attention, this might actually be the place for you.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
Career progression is available, assuming you have the patience to wait for it, the right internal positioning, and ideally no tendency to make the people above you feel professionally threatened.
If you are ambitious, competent and reasonably confident, you may discover that keeping you exactly where you are is considerably more convenient for the existing hierarchy than helping you progress.
Gehalt/Benefits
Competitive with the concept of “maybe next year.”
Salaries are relatively low considering the level of responsibility, while promotions can take an impressively long time. The company seems particularly talented at increasing your responsibilities faster than your compensation.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
Very committed to good vibes. Sound healing, energy drums and piano sessions certainly demonstrate an impressive commitment to employee wellbeing. Whether that same level of creativity extends to workload management and employee retention is another question.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
There are good people, but the internal dynamics and favouritism make genuine teamwork difficult. Collaboration works particularly well when nobody's competence, opinions or position feel remotely threatening to management.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
Experience is valued. Particularly when it comes with the right level of seniority and the appropriate willingness to protect the existing hierarchy.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
This is probably where the company truly excels. Confidence and competence are welcome, provided they don't become inconvenient for anyone higher up the B2B hierarchy.
Arbeitsbedingungen
A fascinating approach to employee recognition: if you are a junior joining the company, congratulations, here is your shiny new MacBook.
If, however, you have been there for years and have actually learned how to do the job, you may be rewarded with a four-year-old piece of hardware that has survived several geological eras of corporate IT. Apparently, the newer your career, the newer your laptop.
Kommunikation
A lot of communication. Not necessarily a lot of clarity.
Gleichberechtigung
A fascinating concept in theory. Promotions and opportunities may provide an interesting practical case study in why employees are advised not to compare themselves with one another.
Interessante Aufgaben
The actual work can be interesting. Managing unrealistic workloads, insufficient hours and clients who expect a full-time employee for a fraction of one is also an excellent exercise in creativity.