Dishonest management, not treating employees with respect, only seeking to gain maximum profit for the company
Arbeitsatmosphäre
Cringe and toxic management, faking a nice working atmosphere. No culture of honest gratitude for good effort, little respect is shown for projects finished on time and the work that went into it - management only interested in visible quick outcomes, not quality of the work. Too many projects at the same time, lots of pressure to meet unrealistic deadlines, employees-vs-management atmosphere. At some point me and colleagues just went along with a lot of nonsense out of frustration.
Kommunikation
Communication often seems calculated rather than honest, sometimes information was held back, seemingly to prevent criticism on decisions that we should have been involved in. Weekly meetings for project planning were generally ok after a long time of regular fighting over inappropriate communication and behaviour from management, especially the way goals were set and communicated. Relevant expertise of employees was often not included in decision making processes and tasks were simply handed out rather than discussing and agreeing together on how things will be done.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Most employees were working well together, partly because everyone has the same bad experience but also some very nice people (most of them already left the company again before I left though)
Work-Life-Balance
Significant overtime is expected regularly, sometimes even on weekends. On multiple occasions with me and colleagues, management tried (and partly succeeded) to let people work overtime without compensation. Deadlines often made long nights at the office necessary and bosses silently expect you to deliver on their targets. Planning often does not include vacations, sick time or simply unforeseen technical problems and employees have to balance that out with overtime.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
Conflicts are often downplayed as misunderstandings, working out issues is being directed to meetings some time in the future but never brought up again. Management has a very distorted view of reality and seems only able to see everybody as being unfair to them when inappropriate company behaviour is brought up.
Work goals often changed from week to week, sometimes without even telling everyone who was involved. Decisions from above often reached too far into employees area of expertise but later on such bad decisions had to be corrected by us of course.
Interessante Aufgaben
Projects were partly quite interesting, most of the work was pretty repetitive though. Work packages were often decided not based on long term goals but on short term whims of the management. We had not that much influence on which direction would be prioritised or how bigger challenges were approached.
Gleichberechtigung
No obvious discrimination, but women in the company mostly worked lower pay grade positions and internships. There were no coworkers with children or other family obligations but it is likely that no special support from the company will be given.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
Unclear, everybody was pretty young but normal for a startup probably. Older people probably were not employed because they were more expensive and also know better what to ask for.
Arbeitsbedingungen
After a long time of being forced to use personal laptops, company computers were offered that were decent. Office can be very cold in winter and noise levels are often too high. Otherwise the space isn't too bad and in a nice neighbourhood.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
Sustainable, fair-trade or climate issues were not a topic. As money was always short, everything had to be bought as cheaply as possible.
Gehalt/Sozialleistungen
Lower end wages (and even below), no other benefits and also little flexibility with work times and home office regulations. Often promised wages were lowered even more with contract tricks for colleagues and freelancers were sometimes even not paid at all. Money was in my case usually paid on time and as agreed. Vacation days are only the minimum that has to be granted by law, no extras of any kind are offered (well, except coffee and water).
Image
The management tries a great deal to improve their public image on social media and potential partners and possible investors. They break however all ties with former employees and burn bridges, also upsetting partners by finishing projects with too little time spent on them and finding ways to deliver less than initially agreed.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
No efforts were taken to advance employees knowledge, e.g. by offering workshops, coaching or financial support for external offers. Since the company is very small, no options for personal development or next steps in the career are realistically possible. The everyday work itself allows one to learn a lot about different things quickly but with the limited time often only superficially.