Spotted Zebra Reviews

4.1

78% would recommend to a friend

(13 total reviews)

Ian Monk | Nick Shaw

79% approve of CEO

67% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

13 reviews
1.0
22 Aug 2024

Micromanagement and employee disposability

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote work Some colleagues were capable and great to work with

Cons

During my tenure, some employees departed due to the pervasive top-down culture. Approximately 20 individuals were hired in 2023, only for nearly all of those numbers to be laid off in 2024 because of inadequate business growth. The layoff process was marked by a lack of transparency, being announced at 9:30 AM and completed by lunchtime, and for many it was their final day. No formal redundancy procedures were followed, as those laid off had less than two years of service. Throughout my employment, I felt like a disposable resource, which was underscored by how the layoffs were handled.

avatar
Spotted Zebra Response
1y
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. I'm really sorry to hear that you didn't have the experience we strive for with our employees at Spotted Zebra. At Spotted Zebra we believe we're on an exciting journey filled with opportunities for growth, innovation and making a real impact. We're creating a culture where great ideas can come to life, where individuals can wear many hats, and where every contribution directly shapes the future of the company. We acknowledge and respect that with these opportunities comes challenges and uncertainties. Our startup environment requires continuous adaptation to market demands and the evolving needs of our customers. We understand that this journey isn’t always easy and feedback like this helps us to reflect and improve as we move forward. Our recent restructuring was a strategic decision aimed at giving our employees and teams more time and space to focus on our core objectives and respond to the evolving needs of our customers. It was not taken lightly, we made sure to be as open and transparent as possible with the entire team. We sat down with everyone affected to walk through the details and answer any questions they had and we provided full documentation to make sure everyone had all the information they needed. We followed all the government guidelines and requirements and also tried to go the extra mile by offering support with portfolios and partnering with a trusted recruitment firm to help people find new roles. We aimed to be as supportive as possible during a challenging time and I'm sorry if that didn't come through for you. We've had some positive feedback from other employees, but your perspective is valuable to us too. Regarding your thoughts on micromanagement and culture, we’re always working to improve. As a rapidly growing company, there’s naturally some employee turnover, but we’re proud of our 90% retention rate. It was surprising to hear you felt there was a top-down culture, as we're building something different here. One of our core values is "Roam Free", which is all about empowering our team to make decisions and do their best work. In our last employee survey, 91% of our team members said they feel empowered, which is something we're really excited about and encouraged by. However, it sounds like we may have missed the mark with you, and for that, I’m sorry. We also focus on personal and professional growth with our "Graze New Grounds" value, encouraging skill development and a growth mindset. We're committed to continuous improvement and will definitely use your feedback to get better. Thank you again for your time at Spotted Zebra, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. Mark Chalmers - Head of People & Talent
5.0
9 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

SZ really lives by it values - it embraces change and new challenges, allowing for autonomy and for individuals bringing their authentic self to work, enabling a good work life balance. We are leading from the front in the HR tech space, which makes it exciting and rewarding to be part of this growing company.

Cons

Not really a con, just an expectation management for new starters to get involved, it's real team effort getting new product to customers, so be prepared to take part in activities that sit outside the norm of your day to day (but the variety is a huge positive for me!).

1.0
7 Feb 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote working, good basic salary.

Cons

Poor leadership, lack of feedback culture, poor decision making leading to mass layoffs, high client churn due to unimaginative assessments and limited integrations, talent acquisition lied about health care and benefits in recruitment process.

avatar
Spotted Zebra Response
2mo
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We're genuinely sorry to hear your experience didn't reflect the company we work hard to be every day. We care deeply about everyone who joins us, and this is not the experience we want for anyone. At the same time, we feel it's important to respond honestly because some of what's been shared doesn't reflect the Spotted Zebra we know and that our team and clients know too. On leadership: in our most recent employee engagement survey (which had 100% participation), the NPS score for confidence in our founders was 100. We're really proud of that and it reflects the trust and openness we try to build with everyone on the team. On technology and assessments: we won four industry awards last year, including 'Innovation in Recruitment', 'TA Supplier of the Year' at the Personnel Today Awards, as well as Gold for "Candidate Assessment" at the IHR Awards. What we're most proud of is the genuine innovation behind our technology and the real difference our assessments make for clients. We've continued to lead from the front with the recent launch of AI Interview and we're seeing strong client growth with minimal churn. On our team: since our necessary restructure, our employee retention rate has been 98%. We think that reflects a team who feel genuinely valued and excited about where we're heading. On benefits and healthcare: every new joiner receives full, transparent details of their complete package during onboarding, so we're sorry if there was ever any confusion around this. We're a friendly, people-first company and we genuinely care about every person's experience with us. If you'd like to share more, we'd welcome that conversation. We wish you all the best in what comes next. Mark Chalmers - Head of People & Talent
Viewing 1 - 3 of 13 Reviews

Glassdoor has 17 Spotted Zebra reviews submitted anonymously by Spotted Zebra employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Spotted Zebra is right for you.