Lack of leadership at the top - Digital Designer HiSeven Employee Review

Broad exposure to multiple responsibilities due to frequent operational gaps

• Management lacks transparency and consistency. Key decisions are often changed abruptly without proper communication, disrupting planning and day-to-day operations. • There is a clear pattern of unfulfilled commitments. Across three separate townhalls in 2024-2025, leadership announced upcoming salary increments, but none were implemented. These repeated empty promises significantly damaged employee morale and trust. • Heavy micromanagement is common, with leadership closely supervising even minor tasks. This creates unnecessary pressure, limits autonomy, and slows down progress. • The leadership style frequently mirrors high-pressure, top-down corporate cultures. Townhalls often focus on reinforcing this approach, with repeated self-comparisons to “tough leadership” figures. Employees are expected to show alignment, which contributes to an increasingly tense environment. • Employee feedback is regularly overlooked or acknowledged only on the surface, with long-standing issues rarely resolved. • Strategic direction is inconsistent. Priorities shift frequently with little context, leaving teams struggling to stay aligned. • An incident involving government authorities visiting the KL office created significant concern among staff. • Some employees have the impression that negative feedback on certain platforms is removed unusually quickly and that overly positive reviews appear suddenly. This created further doubt among staff / former staff about how openly employee voices are allowed to be represented online.

seniors and colleagues are genuinely willing to guide and support newer team members

Heavy micromanagement at all levels, which creates unnecessary pressure and limits autonomy. Toxic behaviour from HR and Finance leadership, making the work environment uncomfortable and demotivating. Strict requirement to clock in and clock out, with no trust given to employees’ professionalism. No flexible working hours; rigid schedules make work-life balance difficult. Excessive reporting requirements — daily, weekly, and monthly reports — often duplicating the same information. Strongly influenced by China-style working culture, which may not suit everyone. Annual leave entitlement was only 8 days