Pros
The relief of eventually resigning. The ability to leave half an hour early on a Friday in summer (so 9 to 5.30, rather than 9 to 6) if you only took a half hour lunch break. Employee engagement at its finest ....
Cons
Avinity is run by a narcissistic bully, who seems to have two objectives in life: making money for himself and making his employees utterly miserable. On first meeting, clients and employees alike are given the impression of a vibrant, friendly and successful business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bullying is rife, from shouting and swearing (when staff were based in the office) to making employees constantly feel that it is their fault the business is on the brink of collapse. Threats of non-payment of salary were commonplace. The owner, who greatly overrates his intelligence, openly boasts of "telling people what they want to hear" and thinks he’s artfully pitting different groups against each other. What he doesn't realise is that his staff are so miserable, that they openly discuss what he’s been saying about them and how duplicitous it is. The business is failing because of atrocious 'leadership', a lack of investment, absence of strategy and a flagrant disregard for the employees. Of the twenty or so employees, only one had a sufficient level of Stockholm Syndrome to seem even vaguely happy. Topped with the unsanitary working conditions (the office space and toilets were once not cleaned for about six months); complete absence of payrises or bonuses (for years prior to Covid); email monitoring; micromanaging and insufferable arrogance at the top - it is actually impossible to think of any way in which it could have been worse.
