Really tough to recommend
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
The product is amazing and is getting better at the speed of light: an inustry changer.
I really cherished my colleagues in my division and other disivions.
Working for a sexy brand has its merits if you care for luxury goods industry.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Its value system contemplating in a horrible culture that finds its problems with
- systematic overtime
- aggression and intense pressure
- short-minded business strategy
- lack of honesty
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Change at the helm - top management must change drastically their value system for this company to be truly driven by motivated employees.
OR top management steps aside and lets someone experienced handle it.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
Great within the divisons, often in between divisions, too.
Terrible for the company as a whole as the value system is best described as "Company first, then a lot of nothing, then the employees": overtime and weekend shifts are regular (which can be normal for a disruptive start up and everyone needs to know that when signing up for one), BUT there is no appreciation (a thank you, compensation) for it nor the will / attempt to avoid it. No one wants to do it, but is expected to with very negative consequences unless conforming to it. Face-time matters a lot.
Its a top-down, control-everything approach which leads to financial targets that do not reflect divisional know-how. Dismissive and aggressive behaviour toward challenging the status-quo cements a "do as told"-culture that only know march to order. It is an ivory-tower that sadly claims to be a front-row driver. Ultimately, it is just cynical / ironic that the sub-culture (divisional / inter-divisional) developing is getting most of the work done and holds the company together despite the adverse affects from above.
Failure is punished and success is poorly if at all celebrated. Tears, screaming and aggression are no exception. There is very little trust from top management toward the employees which results in a lot of withheld information / straight up lies which facilitates informal company information system through which everyone does eventually know "the truth". Henceforth, parodies evolve as there is an official version and an unofficial version of each story.
In short: there is very little fun here.
Kommunikation
Lack of trust leads to insufficient, withheld or false information. An informal information system even with former employees evolved and leads to parodies of official political announcements and an already "informed" audience.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Intense (high pressure and fearful) environment bonds lower tier together.
Work-Life-Balance
Again, start-ups CAN (!) mean a lot of overtime, frenetish all-nighters and weekenders...no problem to me, but if recognition, appreciation is missing and no word ever of any sort of compensation is raised, I do have a provlem. Furthermore, if overtime becomes the norm, then either / or has happened: A) poor planning of ressources B) simply not enough ressources. I can guarantee A) and no initiative in place to alter it.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
Company top management lacks
- leadership / management skills (soft skills to instill motivation, sense of direction, listening, screaming and little patience)
- business vision (clear sense of direction, ability to prioritize hence everything is prio, goals change and often are wishthink)
- business skills (often fails to understand areas of business and hence makes poor calls despite division leaders opposing arguments)
But displays an incredible will and determination to execute past any resistance (legal, human, logic).
Interessante Aufgaben
High growth companies open room for / are driven by personal growth. Context of the work, however, is poor - unrealistic and changing targets; aggressive undertone when goals are challenged.
Gleichberechtigung
From my stand point, women have a very tough situation to face in this company, as 60s-ideology seems deeply rooted.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Start-up means: make do with what you got. Of course, there will be shortages of everything from space, tables, PCs, light, toilets. The problem is, if this becomes A) a constant circumstance and / or B) is purposely designed to be this way (cost-saving at the expense of employees). A) most certainly is the case here...B) I doubt it despite all negative information here.
After all, the office is down-town in Berlin. It can be way worse.
Gehalt/Sozialleistungen
Again, start-ups rarely offer industry / consulting wages. I would rate payment at par of any other start-up in the making in Berlin.
Image
Product and brand are sexy and fashion at its purest. The company resembles a dismembering guerilla-birgade that lost faith in its leadership / vision and / or simply has grown tired of war time.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
High growth is driven by growing employees hence career opportunities abound. At which price each one wants to proceed is up to them.