1. Heavy micromanagement – Employees are required to report the same tasks repeatedly through morning check-ins, daily reports, and weekly summaries. This results in duplicated communication, wasting time and increasing workload without adding real value. Especially the morning huddle and daily report often cover identical content, creating unnecessary communication overhead.
2. Authoritarian culture masked as international – While the company promotes itself as a global organization, its internal culture is heavily influenced by traditional China-style top-down management. There is a strong emphasis on managing upwards rather than driving real results, which often leads to inefficiency, politics, and misaligned priorities.
3. Toxic leadership behavior – The CEO/owner has, on occasion, shouted in group settings and told employees to leave if they “can’t adapt,” creating a culture of fear instead of motivation.
4. No accountability in leadership – Poor-performing or politically entrenched managers are rarely rotated out, making it hard for teams to grow or innovate.
5. No clear career progression – Promotion paths and development plans are vague or nonexistent.
6. Unstable and impulsive decision-making – Key business decisions often lack strategic planning or stakeholder alignment. For example, an entire department was shut down without thorough evaluation. Just two months later, the same function was revived and reassigned to another team—simply because the CEO/owner decided it was needed again. These sudden shifts create confusion, disrupt team focus, and waste resources.
7. Lack of employee protection – HRBP often side with management or adopt a neutral stance that ultimately favors leadership. As a result, non-Team Lead employees have little protection or support when raising concerns. This discourages open feedback and fosters a sense of powerlessness among junior staff.
