A Company in Decline: Leadership, Culture, and Work-Life Balance Issues - Manager, Client Services Cielo Employee Review

2.0
Dec 3, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Ability to support and learn about many clients Employee Network Groups

Cons

Toxic Company Culture: There’s a reason why many legacy employees are leaving or being let go. What used to be a collaborative, supportive environment where you could count on your colleagues and leaders has transformed into a cutthroat, "every person for themselves" mentality. Lack of True Diversity and Inclusion: Cielo prides itself on ED&I initiatives, but the executive team remains homogenous, and many previous male executives have exited. Despite surface-level initiatives, real change doesn’t seem to be happening at the leadership level. Sales-Obsessed, Delivery Neglected: The company has shifted its focus so heavily to sales that the quality of service and product delivery has significantly declined. What used to feel like delivering a Louis Vuitton handbag now feels more like selling a cheap knockoff. External Leadership & Repeated Mistakes: There’s a constant influx of external hires who bring in the same ideas and mistakes as the previous leader in role so it's a vicious, never-ending cycle. When employees try to suggest alternatives or improvements, especially when it's their client team's experience, it's often discouraged or outright frowned upon and you become difficult to work with. There’s a lot of lip service about innovation, but little action behind it or is sold and little thought was gone into how it would be delivered leading to unhappy clients. Toxic Work-Life Balance: Expect to grind constantly, often at the expense of your personal life and well-being. The pressure is immense, and the constant worry about layoffs due to "market conditions" is mentally exhausting. There’s no stability, and no one seems safe from being on the chopping block.

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Cielo Response
1y
Hi, this is Molly Thiel, Chief Operating Officer. It's so hard to respond to reviews like this because there's a lot of missing context. I hope you were able to speak with either a senior leader or member of the Talent Management team before you left – we can't solve for details we're not aware of. What we can solve for, though, is ensuring we continue our focus on a culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging. Our most recent engagement scores actually show a 20-point increase in that area, so I'm optimistic that we're doing a lot of the right work to affect positive change. And our focus on sales has been necessary in a volatile market, but that should never be at the expense of delivery. Our client experience survey scores have increased over the last 18 months during the improvement of our sales capability, showing positive results and some constructive areas for improvement, and we're committed to doing all we can to consistently deliver an exemplary client experience. There will be times where we miss the mark, and we'll use those as learning opportunities to do better next time and apply the learnings to all teams. If you're willing to connect, it would help me to better understand what you experienced and where specifically we have opportunity to improve. This culture is a special one that will surely evolve as the organization does, but I want to be sure we retain what makes people want to work here and work with us. Please contact me at molly.thiel@cielotalent.com. Thank you.

Explore other reviews about Cielo

5.0
May 27, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great management and WFH is nice

Cons

Hiring takings weeks and confusing start

2.0
Feb 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Unlimited PTO Remote work Work/Life balance

Cons

Layoffs every year and sometimes mutiple times a year (sometimes announced and sometimes quietly but teams talk). Have seen way too many good colleagues get let go to get back filled in a low cost geo that turn out to not work out. Every single day I dread getting a meeting invite from my manager or P&C that I'm being let go. Talking with others on my team and on other client teams, we all feel that way. No bonuses anymore. I dont think I've ever had more than 50% of my bonus in all my time here. Merit raises are low 1-3%.

3
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Cielo Response
3mo
Hi, this is Cherice Schmidt – EVP, Client Services. Thank you for your candid feedback and for your five years of dedication to Cielo. I appreciate you highlighting the positive aspects of our workplace flexibility, including unlimited PTO and remote work options. However, I am deeply concerned about the anxiety and uncertainty you're experiencing regarding job security and compensation. I want to acknowledge the impact that organizational changes have had on you and your colleagues. While we must make difficult decisions to remain competitive in our evolving market, we understand these changes affect real people and their families. Your feedback about compensation, particularly regarding bonuses and merit increases, is heard and valued. We regularly review our total rewards structure to ensure competitiveness, and your specific concerns about healthcare costs and merit increases will be carefully considered in our ongoing evaluations. The perception that there's inequity between leadership and staff compensation is concerning, and I appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We strive for transparency in our decision-making processes, and your feedback helps us identify areas where we need to improve both our communication and our practices. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss your specific situation and concerns in more detail. Please reach out to me directly at Cherice.Schmidt@cielotalent.com.
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