Middle and upper management (particularly one higher-up) has a reputation for lying. This has been mentioned to them (and in these reviews which they read) yet nothing ever changed in my experience. Below are some things that are lauded as part of GSG’s culture, but I experienced the opposite.
1. “We value transparency” - I’ve also heard “radical transparency”. Yes, they’re transparent in many ways. However, 1) Big decisions are made in secret. Major changes that affect you can be dropped on you at a second’s notice. And 2) Management keeps a notes document about every employee, and it’s updated weekly by your team lead after their weekly one-on-one meeting with you. You’re not allowed to see this document, but it’s shared with the chain of command up to the CEOs. I found out about this *6 months* after I started. It felt awful, like I’d been secretly recorded for months by someone who stated, regularly and emphatically, that they’re honest and “transparent”.
2. “We’re not hierarchical.” - There were about 5 levels of management above me, and once you get past team leads, those managers were completely out of touch with the BAs. Moreover, middle management fully controls the narrative that gets to C-level, because C-level doesn’t interact at all with the BAs and middle management likes it that way. I was once even discouraged by an ops manager from emailing the CEOs directly with feedback about company culture.
3. “We have a culture of feedback.” - A few issues with this one, which I consider half-true. 1) Feedback can be vague, so it’s hard to act upon. 2) Rather than giving you the benefit of the doubt, some managers search for a deeper meaning in everything you say or ask. I consider these managers a little too eager to give negative feedback. It can feel like you’re on eggshells. 3) The focus is on downstream feedback. If you’re told something needs improvement, you make changes or see the door. But if you offer critical, upwards feedback, you risk getting on someone’s bad side, and having the feedback twisted and thrown back at you. Feeling overworked? You just lack time management skills. Don’t agree with a new change? You just need to work on a more positive attitude. To their credit, the CEOs tried to solicit feedback from everyone with an anonymous survey once, but it felt risky to believe it was truly anonymous. I didn’t respond with my concerns because I didn’t want to risk making enemies and losing my job.
