Diligent reviews

It is sad to see what a good company could become. The global teams have been discontented for quite some time but the constant lip service from Management to sell more to customers to increase revenue (who don't really need more that the basic service they signed up for); the increasing demands from Management to do more work (after making scores of people redundant); and the constant acquisitions of companies (good luck Galvanize, Steele!) without a cohesive strategy to create a unified platform to offer its clients have led many to leave the business. DIligent has also made many people redundant across its key service locations only to place new and untrained staff in Galway. The staff are so inexperienced that customers are constantly complaining to their poor customer success managers who do not shoulder the responsibility of of supporting their clients anymore and who are also saddled with learning an increasingly list of poorly developed and poorly supported products. The exodus is across many business units regardless of seniority. There was a time when Diligent could be recommended to others. Not anymore.

Shaft incoming in 3...2...1 Diligent used to be an excellent place to work. Everyone around you was as committed as you were, driven and motivated. Management was supportive, initiatives were welcomed, there was a real sense of 'team spirit' - you felt like we were all on the same team, all pulling in the same direction, all trying to get to the same place. About 6 months ago everything changed overnight. From saying "we're all in this pandemic thing together" the CEO turned around and gutted the company. Product and Support got shipped overseas (where it's cheaper - someone should tell him about "fast, cheap, good - pick 2"), product managers who weren't cut loose left of their own accord, tech development got screwed to the extent that the Chinese wall which in well-run software companies exists between Dev and QA (if you need to have the logic for this explained the you're probably Diligent management) was done away with and QA now reports to Development. Go figure. Not that it really matters anymore. Having slashed and burned his own workforce, Diligent's CEO has convinced his backers to give him enough money to make not 1 but 2 acquisitions, dropping $1.3bn+ on the transactions. I wonder if the people who work for the acquired companies (Steele and Galvanize, I'm talking to you) know that Mr. Stafford excels at one thing only, and that's talking out of both sides of his mouth at once. Per Forbes, "We believe that the 2020s-plus will all be around the ethical business and stakeholder capital". Shame that this only extends as far as his front door. Treating his employees ethically, treating them as stakeholder capital, is an alien concept. If I worked for either of these companies I'd be polishing my resume and making a dash for the door. That's certainly what I'm doing.