In 2023, a workers' council was established, signaling significant underlying issues within the company's internal dynamics and trust levels. Unfortunately, the relationship between the workers' council and management is strained, with management obviously adopting a strategy of intimidation and silencing. This became apparent, for instance, in the management's review of old expense reports, prompting questions about the management's true intentions behind this endeavor.
There has been a noticeable stagnation in the company's growth, leaving me uncertain about what this means for me as an employee. The C-level executives openly acknowledge the stagnation and its financial implications, but their messaging is confusing. One week, it seems like many of us will be laid off due to financial constraints, and the next week, the message is much less dire. In the engineering department, the threat of layoffs feels somewhat less immediate.
Since the new management took over in 2022, there has been a noticeable deterioration in the workplace atmosphere. Instances of reprimands by management in meetings have become distressingly common, blurring the line between constructive criticism and outright hostility. Many of my coworkers share such stories. The consistently poor and declining scores in employee surveys speak volumes. While it may be easy to attribute these declining scores solely to the recent transformation and layoffs, eyeo has undergone many such transformations since its establishment. Indeed, eyeo has been in a state of constant transformation since its inception. However, has any previous transformation been communicated as poorly, or has morale ever sunk as low as it has during the current one?
The CEO's management style is characterized by a "my way or the highway" approach, with pressure and fear permeating throughout the organization. Additionally, some of his humor and language feel outdated and inappropriate, reminiscent of a bygone era. The CEO's speeches during all-hands meetings often come across as inauthentic, filled with meaningless managerial jargon, and lacking coherence. This frequently leads to awkward silence when he expects enthusiastic responses from employees. Moreover, the business results of his first two years at eyeo have been very underwhelming. Despite making lofty promises, he has delivered the weakest results since I started at eyeo, at least based on the information shared with us in all-hands meetings.
The leader of the HR department seems focused on executing a clean-up job reminiscent of a finance or legal professional from an investment firm. Addressing the human needs of employees appears to be neither aligned with his personality nor his understanding of HR. Ironically, he then wonders why he is not well-liked and complains about the pushback from the organization. His lack of approachability and trustworthiness undermines the HR department's effectiveness in improving the workplace atmosphere. In fact, I view the HR leader as an amplifier and ambassador for the questionable behavior of top management.
