Sweap

Unternehmenskultur

Work Atmosphere

The company offers genuinely attractive benefits. The salary is competitive, and the four-day workweek is a real advantage. Those are great reasons to join and stay.

However, these benefits also make it easy to overlook deeper issues. The company presents itself as open, transparent, and people-focused, but the day-to-day experience often feels different. Employees notice much more than management seems to think. Just because people stay quiet doesn't mean they don't see what's happening.

Over the past year, several decisions—especially around hiring, promotions, and letting people go—have been difficult to understand. Many of them lacked transparency and were never properly explained. From an employee's perspective, some decisions appeared to be driven more by personal preferences than by clear, objective criteria.

Looking at the leadership team, it becomes clear why some of these problems continue. There seems to be a lack of leadership experience, self-reflection, and accountability in some key positions. Strong communication alone does not make someone a good leader. Some managers repeatedly struggle with communication, organization, and people management.

Communication is one of the company's biggest weaknesses. For a relatively small company, you would expect information to flow much more efficiently, but that is often not the case.

A large part of the problem seems to come from the top. Transparent communication does not appear to be a priority, and this has become even more noticeable since one of the managing directors relocated abroad. There is a growing disconnect between leadership and the rest of the company, which affects communication across all departments.

On a day-to-day level, communication is often slow and unreliable. Responses can take a long time, follow-ups are frequently necessary, and agreements or previous conversations are sometimes forgotten. Employees often have to remind people multiple times just to receive an answer or move something forward.

There is also the impression that communication and attention are not distributed equally. Some topics and people seem to receive far more attention than others, which creates the perception that personal relationships influence priorities. Whether intentional or not, this undermines trust.

A culture of caution has developed. Many employees think carefully about what they say and who they say it to, particularly when some colleagues are perceived to have especially close relationships with management. This naturally affects trust.
There is also a perception that concerns are not always addressed directly with the people involved. Instead, they may be escalated to management first, which discourages open conversations and constructive feedback between colleagues. Over time, this creates an environment where people become more guarded instead of communicating honestly with each other.

Work-life balance is one of the company's strongest points. The four-day workweek is a genuine benefit, and the company is generally very flexible when it comes to personal matters and time off. This creates a comfortable working environment that many employees value.

At times, however, the culture can feel a little too relaxed, especially when it comes to leadership and internal communication. While flexibility is appreciated, it should not come at the expense of reliability, accountability, or timely communication. Employees still need clear decisions, consistent follow-up, and accessible leadership.

One of the biggest challenges is the overall lack of leadership experience across the management team. Looking at the backgrounds of many people in leadership positions, it is noticeable that a significant number have little or no previous experience leading larger teams or organizations.

This is reflected in day-to-day operations. Many of the recurring issues as unclear decisions, inconsistent communication, and a lack of accountability seem to stem from limited leadership experience rather than from a lack of technical knowledge.

Just as noticeable is the lack of authenticity in leadership. Too often, communication feels reactive rather than genuine. Instead of addressing difficult situations openly from the beginning, the focus often seems to shift to explaining or justifying decisions only after they have already caused frustration.

As an employee, it can leave the impression that people are expected to simply accept whatever explanation is given without questioning it. This can come across as dismissive and, at times, even manipulative.

There is a good mix of responsibilities, and new projects, changes, and initiatives regularly bring variety to the role. If you enjoy working in a dynamic environment with different challenges, you'll likely find the work interesting and engaging.

Overall, the day-to-day work is diverse and rarely feels repetitive.