I cannot recommend Terso as a desirable place to work or partner with. Recent organizational changes and leadership decisions have created a profoundly negative and unsustainable environment.
The recent restructuring, including a 15% workforce reduction, was executed in a manner that has severely damaged team morale, product quality, and overall organizational effectiveness. This decision appears shortsighted, as critical roles remain unfilled, impacting core business functions.
The company culture has deteriorated significantly. There is a pervasive atmosphere of bullying and retaliatory harassment, including:
Senior leaders engaging in verbal aggression.
Employees being routinely belittled.
A lack of accountability for unprofessional behavior, often dismissed with excuses like "boys will be boys."
Individuals who raise concerns are punished, while those who conform to the toxic culture are rewarded.
Strategic leadership and clear organizational direction are absent. Communication from senior leadership has been severely restricted, leaving employees without understanding of their impact or the company's vision. The focus appears to be on short-term profitability, potentially in preparation for a sale, rather than long-term stability and growth. The senior leadership team has also refused to share any information regarding the market research used to justify the restructuring and layoffs, which further eroded trust. The CEO’s comments regarding a future layoff mindset and wishing he had executed the layoffs earlier reflect a complete disregard of Terso’s core value of Relationship. To add insult to injury, the CEO hosted an all company meeting 3 months before the layoffs and restructuring, introducing the new board and partial owners of the company while repeatedly asserting that our jobs were safe and that this change would not result in layoffs.
The company is experiencing a significant loss of talent, particularly within the VP team, and critical roles are not being backfilled. Remaining employees are being shifted around, creating further instability and workload imbalances. Notably, the HR department has been eliminated without plans for replacement.
Terso demonstrates a concerning disregard for quality and compliance, despite having a talented individual leading these efforts. The QMS itself is inadequate and poorly maintained, and senior leadership actively refuses to allocate the necessary resources to fix or maintain it and to fulfill regulatory compliance requirements. Furthermore, there is a culture of blame rather than process improvement. The fear of layoffs has created a tribal atmosphere, hindering self-awareness and effective collaboration and making it nearly impossible for the quality and compliance team to function effectively.
Terso's current state is characterized by:
Toxic culture.
Lack of strategic direction.
Erosion of trust.
Disregard for compliance and quality.
Significant talent loss.
Prospective employees and customers should carefully consider these factors and thoroughly evaluate alternatives.
