It has been incredibly disappointing to see a company that I was previously proud to work for, and that used to genuinely care for it's employees, become what it is today. The rapid decline in it's culture and efficiency in the last two years mainly coincides with the appointment of Birgitte Pihl as CPO and the acquisition by Xero. The company is led by an SLT who's main focus is how they can help themselves and constantly resist any integration or direction from Xero. Ego on both sides at senior management gets in the way of any real collaboration or improvement to the Planday business model. The decimation of the Planday I joined has been driven mainly by Birgitte (CPO), for someone who is supposedly there to champion "culture" and be the head of people, she is one of the most toxic and uncompassionate people I have ever worked with. Unless you sit within her favoured Copenhagen office, and under her watchful eye, she cares very little about you or your welfare. This is particularly evident at the London office. Any culture and collaboration that existed between the offices when I originally joined has been massively eroded since her arrival. This has been replaced with a culture of toxicity and favouritism, perpetuated by Birgitte herself and she does very little to encourage any improvement in relations. She believes herself to be a great people leader and takes an instant dislike to anyone who challenges this. This has been incredibly apparent in the recent months with redundancies affecting teams across the group, but very different approaches taken depending on how "valued" you are by Birgitte and the SLT. While the message being sent out to employees is about open communication and minimising impact, the reality is very different. Unclear and inconsistent communication is the norm and everyone is just left guessing and waiting to see how they will be impacted.
