Fundamentally there are many flaws at this company; They are running incredibly lean, this means people and products are suffering. Staff are getting incredibly burnt out and more expectation is being put on their shoulders without any reward or recognition. Products in turn are suffering as mistakes are being made and proper research is not taking place due to there not being enough staff or time, you only have to look at trustpilot reviews to see this. The staff are disproportionately rewarded. If you work in sales you can expect to win a brand new electric mini or get a trip to Miami for a week or two. If you work anywhere else the most you can expect is a £10 coffee voucher. Staff continue to address this in all hands calls but it is dismissed by the exec team and explained that the sales team have a hard job and work hard, suggesting that other areas don’t? It is a constant punch in the face. Another flaw is regarding the Peakon surveys. Peakon surveys are supposed to be there for staff to speak openly and honestly about the good and the bad in the workplace so that higher levels can make improvements. However managements bonuses are based on scores being above 8/10. There is a pressure to score 8 and above so that managers don’t lose their bonus, it means the right culture isn’t being fostered to help make improvements to the workplace. It is also common that if you do leave a comment there is no acknowledgement or reply from anyone other than your line manager. There is very much an old school culture still within this workplace and it is not moving with the times. There is very little desire to understand the customer needs and feedback when developing products and most decisions are based on what people think they know. Iris is very much a boys club, the way in which people speak to each other can be very shocking and I have witnessed some gaslighting 101 behavior which has no place in society let alone a workplace. If you try to challenge this kind of behavior it is simply shrugged off as someone being sensitive, incredibly worrying attitude to take. The company practice agile in name only. There are no incremental deliveries and it is all big bang. Product Owners are given no autonomy to actually own their products across all areas and it is top down decision making. Plans have to be in place for what is going to be delivered 6 to 12 months in advanced, while all items must be estimated in days, and story points with no room for movement. Most estimates have to fit within managers timelines, if they don’t they will change the estimate anyway and then complain when the work goes over. There needs to be a decision on if the company should work in Agile methodologies or waterfall or allow teams to choose the best methodology that suits the type of work they are doing. The halfway house between Agile and Waterfall causes more issues than it solves, for example retros can feel like a waste of time as managers can do very little to improve process as the company uses a one size fits all.
