• Client-side bullying incidents went unchecked, creating a grossly unsafe environment. People are forced to do things they don't have backgrounds or experience in, then bullied and gas lit across multiple divisions mainly by CS and PMO team.
• Leadership instability: multiple executive/C-suite shakeups, founders exited after refinancing/acquisition. A terrible example of “deal of a lifetime” for them, leaving employees behind. Hard to understand how the PE firm tolerates it.
• Poor financial decisions (e.g., failed Principal acquisition) left teams under-resourced. They had to let go of over 1/2 of the talent, and keep in mind agencies' value is tied to the people who work there. Leadership has no strategy beyond selling anything and everything, hoping talent can fill the gaps.
• Anchor clients lost, revenue instability, repeated layoffs. Culture of fear, lack of ownership, and widespread burnout.
• Nepotism and favoritism are rampant; cliques in leadership make the environment toxic and mentally unsafe.
• Promises of bonuses and advancement rarely delivered. The only time promotions come up is when people threaten to put in their notice, and even then, no one stays when they desperately try to retain them.
• Culture focused on optics, not people. Hard to see how sizable clients remain given the internal dysfunction. A couple large and highly unusual egos are steering this ship into oblivion.
