My experience was heavily impacted by poor frontline management and questionable workforce planning decisions. The organization appeared to overhire relative to the actual workload and long-term team structure, which created instability and uncertainty across the team.
Despite being a strong performer with meaningful customer impact, I experienced a lack of support, coaching, and advocacy from my direct manager. My manager explicitly communicated that his approach to management was to hire people who could operate entirely independently so he would not need to be closely involved in their development or day-to-day support. In practice, this resulted in minimal guidance, limited feedback, and a lack of managerial engagement when challenges arose.
Instead of feeling supported, the management approach often felt transactional and detached. Expectations were not always clearly aligned, and feedback was inconsistent and sometimes delivered without actionable direction for improvement.
I also observed a pattern where Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) were used in situations that did not always appear aligned with objective performance outcomes, including for individuals who had demonstrated strong contributions. This created a culture of fear and uncertainty, where performance management processes felt more punitive than developmental.
Overall, there was a lack of psychological safety and trust at the management level. Career development conversations were limited, and employees did not consistently feel invested in or supported by leadership.
