The company’s recent acquisition is a breather for most investors. The leadership, particularly the C-suite, lacked a clear vision, alignment, and effective management style. Their approach seemed fragmented, with conflicting decisions leading to significant inefficiencies across all teams. They are, simply put, incapable of communicating or fostering communication with a large audience or cross-functionally. The Risk departments was perhaps the only one that had a well-defined strategy. While the company boasted an impressive pool of talent with diverse backgrounds and extensive experience, they often struggled due to a lack of autonomy, transparency, and support. Unfortunately, there were also instances of ineffective hires, which negatively impacted other teams. For instance, the Marketing team launched a Change card public campaign, basically as a user you are able to order a new Change debit card for free, and then celebrated an increase in card orders, analytically, such statistics are unacceptable at all levels due to the lack of outcome. The engineering team, composed of exceptionally talented individuals, found their potential stifled by the indecisiveness of the management. Many even expressed their frustrations to me personally. What's even more disheartening is that when one offers suggestions or points out glaring issues, the management often seems careless, positioning themselves as the only qualified people. Over time, the work environment grew increasingly cold and toxic, particularly after the initial wave of layoffs. Without going into specifics, it's evident that the investors' funds could have been allocated more judiciously, and a significant amount of resources could have been better utilised. The investment market is moving north and Change’s strategy is moving south, and then the question comes “Are we sinking?”, so to not sink change decided to increase or implement new fees that were even noticed by outsiders. One can only hope that the new acquisition will bring about a much-needed remedy to the existing challenges and pave the way for a more productive future with a new management. For now, I, firmly, don’t recommend Change as an employer.
