I can't help but feel this new energy is superficial. It's all style and no substance, creating the façade of what could be a fantastic place to work but scratch the surface and we're left with:
- A complete disregard for the reasons Penna were the UKs #1 Career Transition provider. This new business could have been fantastic with the quality of the Penna offering combined with the energy and global reach of LHH. As someone who passionately cares about our customers and was immensely proud of the Penna offering, it is very difficult to see this being destroyed. There seemed to be absolutely no review of best practice from both sides to produce improved processes and offerings. Instead we find ourselves being forced to use the existing LHH systems / processes. We are receiving daily complaints from both the HR communities plus the candidates who we 'support' but these seem to fall on deaf ears. This is upsetting and demoralising.
- It's the LHH way or the highway and if you dare share any negativity you're immediately branded as a bitter Penna person who is resistant to change. This is extremely patronising and disrespectful. Yes of course we all need to focus on moving forwards and every integration has its difficulties, however steaming ahead with this notion when so many employees are deeply concerned is foolish. This is evident from the Glassdoor reviews and the sudden barrage of wonderfully positive additions is a laughable and transparent attempt to cover our voices. Most look like they're from our engagement team who ironically are the cause for the majority of complaints due to their unprofessionalism.
- If you're not based in London you feel like a second class employee. Decisions are made with no consideration of input from regional employees. These are then inappropriately shared with all teams (managers and subordinates) by the London favorites which I feel is disrespectful. The regional offices are in desperate need of refurbishment. Few and far between visits from senior management. There seems to be no appreciation that the London delivery model simply cannot be rolled out regionally and work in the same way. Some regions have lost >50% of their associate base as they simply could not associate themselves with the poor service we now provide or were insulted by their treatment from our leaders.
