The management has zero inkling of how to navigate the company and things are getting worst from their management, especially with their onboarding of new execs. They did manage to very swiftly and efficiently destroy the core values of Aiven, the very values that attracted many of the talents to the organization.
Ownership: The management clearly lacks ownership from the ridiculous KPIs and sales motion that they preached. It’s clear that most of them have no idea how things work on the ground, and are used to commanding troops from their ivory tower. Their ideas would be better received if they actually led by example, but of course that doesn’t happen.
Openness: Woe befall the souls those that dare to be open about their feedback or questions. When people on the ground voiced concerns or feedback on why certain KPIs or processes wouldn’t work well, they are met with sarcastic responses or brushed aside without a second thought. Some of these people are then marked for “not getting with the program”. People are then replaced by cronies that are referred in by these new management, or are silently demoted to a new role.
Courage: This is probably the core value that is still actively practiced. It does take true courage to push through ridiculous execution ideas and expect everyone to be onboarded without any pushback, and it does take true courage to keep pulling in your friends while demoting the employees that have stayed with the company for some time. They then pat themselves on their back for excellent employee satisfaction, but of course the results are great when you just referred a bunch of new people in? It’s also a great way to flush out unsatisfied employees. Here’s a quick example: if a team has 10 members but 6 of them are new employees, and the results showed that 30% of the team are unhappy, you can almost say for certainty that the existing members are the ones that are unhappy, as the new employees are still going through onboarding. Talk about anonymity.
If the new ideas, systems and processes worked, then why is the company struggling to retain talents? Why are the numbers not showing? Clearly something is wrong, and from everyone on the ground the reason is clear as day: the management just doesn’t cut it.
To potential joiners: It’s an excellent opportunity to join a struggling company filled with challenges. It’s indeed not for everyone, so if you love a challenge of sailing on a sailing ship with incompetent captains then this is the right spot for you.
To existing Aiveners: Have the courage to do the right thing for yourself.
