Lost its way badly in last year or two - Recensione dipendente - Designer presso Accurx

Accurx is a company that has totally lost its way over the last 18 months. It's sad to write that, but I also see those sentiments are echoed in other comments on here. In my experience in the company, it is the higher levels that are failing. I will try to summarise the main issues that I find in the company at the moment. 1. The company has become performative. They talk a lot, for instance, about DEI but there have been people leaving over the last couple of years precisely because DEI was treated as a buzzword to tip your hat to, not something that drove policies on the ground. They also talk a good game regarding mental health but the workplace has become a toxic, presenteeism-driven environment where employees' mental health has to take a back seat. Social events and the summer conference are reported as being 'optional' but are anything but. It is made crystal clear that failure to attend such events will be considered a black mark against your name, I've seen it happen. Their attitudes towards WFH are old fashioned and reflect the fact that those who request increased virtual work are somehow attempting to skive off and have it easy. It's breathtaking to see this attitude in 2024. So people wend their way to the office and sit on their computers and struggle to find available meeting rooms. 2. The environment in the workplace has gone from conducive to rough to toxic in the course of two years. Some heads act like sixth form monitors, actually going as far as to demean people face-to-face on calls and in meetings, those they consider not to be 'pulling their weight'. I don't know if this directive has come from the top, but it must stop. We are a younger cohort at Accurx, but we are not schoolkids. People are leaving with obvious signs of burnout but those above continue to push and, worse, use the whip hand. The working environment is also very noisy, which also speaks very much to the issue of mental health. Much of the work in done by chat and devices are a constant cacophony of alerts and notifications. More conventional channels of communication and work are eschewed by many in senior positions and those below are expected to do the same. 3. Micromanagement has become a byword for how Accurx now does business. We now spend an inordinate amount of time looking BACK. Constant reviews, reports, self reviews, peer reviews. It is no wonder the company's compass is so out of whack when we spend longer looking back than looking forward. Meetings drag on endlessly while the minions report in great detail what they've spent the last week doing. Spoiler: it's been a lot of reporting! Work is duplicated in several channels which only adds to the noise and worsens the workload of those who have to do it. Endless needless reports are written, re-written and then largely ignored. Those boxes need to be ticked! 4. Salaries, already on the low side thanks to the young age profile of the Accurx workforce, have failed miserably to keep up with rampant inflation over the last 18 months, with the result that most of us have suffered large drops in real earning power. 5. Key positions have people who have been over-promoted simply because they got in early, got tenure and are now immovable boulders. There are examples of managers who have surprisingly limited knowledge of areas they work in, but they were put there, use outdated practices (and expect others to fall in line and use them too) and these people are going nowhere, further fossilising bad work practices. 6. The overall direction and strategy of the company seems to change monthly, communicated in odd missives by the head honcho. Moving into the expanded office was, a year ago, a fantastic idea worth spending eye-watering amounts of money on. Now, shelving it is a great strategy, alongside insisting on everyone being in the office all the time and thus struggling for space. The overall business strategy is a foggy mess. We've headed off in at least three distinct directions over the last few years.