Toxic Leadership and Work Environment
Pros
I was hired by the global office headquarters in New York and was based in Singapore. 7 top management leaders regionally and globally (CEOs & MDs) were part of my job interview including the global Executive Chairman and CEO. - The Weber Shandwick brand is well respected in the industry. - WS had reputable clients that were respected global brands - Generally, the people in Weber Shandwick, especially in the regional offices, were wonderful and fun to work with. Friendships were created and the camaraderie was positive and what kept us together. - The MDs and leadership in KL, Jakarta, Bangkok, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, and Seoul were great to work with and extremely supportive. - Global leadership were inspiring and were well respected in the industry
Cons
- The work environment in Singapore was extremely toxic. The top management micro-manages their staff and doesn’t delegate work and authority efficiently. - A lot of negativity that contributes to the toxic environment comes directly from a few top leaders and agency lead. There is a lot of insecurity and incompetence at the top in terms of leadership and management. - Weekly management meetings were often too long, lasting 2-3 hours. We were told to bring our lunches to the meetings and some were too focused on their food instead of the discussion at hand. Most of the time they were complaining about clients instead of brainstorming for constructive solutions to solve problems. - Staff often worked long hours tackling multiple clients without direction and leadership. It’s common to see people having lunch and eating at their desks, looking stressed out and demotivated. - There was selective favouritism as some staff who sucked up to the bosses were given awards and recognition, while the ones who didn’t were left to fend for themselves. Complaints of bosses taking credit for their junior staff’s work are common and it’s demoralising for them. Once, the head of the agency gave an award to their mate the EVP, much to the surprise of everyone as the person had a bad reputation amongst the staff at the time. It was an awkward end-of-month curry puff party, to say the least. - In a space of 18 months, more than 24 people resigned/left including 4 Vice Presidents. The turnover is extremely high for a small agency.