GIC reviews

Purposefully and dutifully managing the assets don’t seem to be on anyone’s priority list. Just politicking and surviving the backstabbing is the name of the game here. You’re lucky if you get to go through a PIP plan by HR. Most just get asked to leave on the spot. Don’t come as a mid career hire . No mercy at all. Their so called PRIME values - Prudence, Respect, Integrity, Meritocracy, Excellence - is truly laughable and they can say it with a straight face when it’s the complete opposite of their values.

The organisation’s performance has been on a downward trajectory for several years, yet there appears to be limited visible accountability at the GEC level. Changes have certainly been made, but much of the GEC remains intact. In many private-sector organisations, prolonged underperformance would likely prompt more significant leadership renewal. Here, that seems less apparent. The appointment of a new Group CIO also left many employees with unanswered questions; Was the individual picked because he delivered the best returns? Succession and leadership appointments benefit from transparency, yet there was little communication around the rationale or selection criteria. Better communication would have strengthened confidence in the process. The Technology Group has been through repeated reorganisations while simultaneously expanding its senior leadership ranks. It is fair to ask whether it requires this many additional senior management roles when the overall mandate has not fundamentally changed. From an employee’s perspective, restructuring has often felt like creating more reporting lines rather than simplifying delivery. Equally disappointing has been the role played by Technology HR. Rather than acting as a credible strategic partner that provides balanced challenge and independent advice, the function is often perceived by employees as simply facilitating management decisions. In a period of repeated restructuring, many expected HR to provide stronger stewardship of organisational health, workforce planning and employee trust. That opportunity appears to have been missed. Corporate planning has also fallen short in practical ways. Headcount growth was hardly unexpected, yet the outcome has been teams split across separate office buildings, with employees spending unnecessary time walking between locations for meetings. It is an avoidable inefficiency that affects productivity, collaboration and morale. Basic operational planning should not become a daily inconvenience for staff. Overall, there is an increasing sense that organisational complexity is growing faster than organisational effectiveness. Decisions often appear to add more management, more processes and more layers, rather than solving the underlying issues.