The Fall of AVA & MAY aka. Hashtag You
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Very very little. The old company was gone with the second founder who left as he was the one who actually cared for people and couldn't bear the developments himself. The official reasoning for him to leave was his growing family.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Everything mentioned above and probably much more.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Pretty much everything regarding the way of working – open appreciation for people who clearly deserve it, increased respect, working on leadership qualities, providing development opportunities, not lying to employees, realising one's own incompetence instead of making everyone return to the office as a mean of control
Arbeitsatmosphäre
After 2/3 founders left, the changes that were already felt were suddenly openly communicated – the trust, friendliness, respect and empathy were gone as everyone was left with the one founder who does not care about people and is highly incompetent when it came to managing the company he founded. As he was more interested in calling himself CEO than actually living up to the (very fair) expectations of a CEO, he blamed everyone of poor performance and wanted the whole workforce to return to the office since he was unable to accept that people working remotely was not the issue. He has never had any trust from his employees but thought of himself as the greatest leader to have ever lived. Employees started smiling in the front but stabbing each other in the back as a coping mechanism. The wrong people were promoted with questionable boni while others had to fear for their job due to financial issues that were constantly the main problem. Last but not least, they let go every single lead who once worked in the department of the founder who left due to interpersonal conflicts among the founders – quite obvious and ruthless behaviour.
Kommunikation
Communication had to be taken over by people who actually understood how to communicate transparently without starting a panic. One time, when these more competent people were on PTO, the remaining CEO told everyone that there won't be any salary raises (even though they had been promised in writing) but since he decided to also not increase his salary, everyone should be very satisfied and looking up to his selfless behaviour. Communication among colleagues was nice but often tinted by everyone's own fear of being let go sooner or later. HR fought for their life but could not deal with that level of delusion.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Very good amongst certain groups but overall the employees were friendly, respectful and empathic young people. C-level is a different story.
Work-Life-Balance
On paper okay, in real life I can only second what has been written in an older review: you start with 110% but that quickly becomes the standard and if you don't match the new expectations of giving 150% and more it's framed as poor performance.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
Team leads and Head ofs were mostly competent people, my one star is for everyone who fought for a culture that was worth working for. C-level was more and more living in a world that was framed, supported and confirmed by everyone else on C-level. They could never accept having made a mistake and always searched the fault in some poor employee who dared to give slightly critical feedback. I remain so confused by everyone who decided to stay in this company and can only assume that this has to do with the fact that the company had been acquired.
Interessante Aufgaben
Very mixed – of course there are always interesting tasks but they remained overshadowed by all those "need to be immediately done" things that were never that important.
Gleichberechtigung
Women-dominated field, which was very refreshing. CEO seemed like he didn't really think of women as potentially competent people though.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
Little to no one was older than 35 – the ones who were hired later were close with the remaining founder and all male.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Fine after making HR find the next office after having moved many many times. Laptop was provided, additional items for the IT setup were available in the office.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
Candles were framed as sustainable and non-toxic, I have no idea if that is true. Trash was meant to be separated but not many people behave the way they do at home.
Gehalt/Benefits
My salary was increased as the last act of rebellion by the second founder who was leaving (my direct superior) and on an average level compared to similar positions in similar companies/fields. In general, people earned okay-ish, as far as I know.
Image
Pretty sure most people were laughing about this company. The product itself has very loyal customers in general who obviously don't know about internal processes.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
No one cared for your development – which was obviously irrelevant when it came to feedback sessions in which you were expected to having developed so much while not having any room or opportunity to do so.