Horribly Toxic Culture - Anonymous employee SCENE Employee Review

The most significant drawback of working at Scene is the President. Her leadership style is toxic, manipulative, and she lacks an understanding of even the most basic marketing principles necessary to effectively lead a marketing company. She is a lawyer, not a marketer. She’s an export of Bell, a company notorious for having one of the most toxic corporate cultures in Canada, and her most significant contribution to Scene has been hiring other Bell employees, perpetuating a negative work environment. The well-being of employees is very clearly a low priority for her. The executive team often boasts that Scene is "run like a startup." However, given that the company has existed since 2007, this should be a point of concern rather than pride. A company that hasn’t evolved past startup inefficiencies in nearly 20 years indicates very serious leadership issues. Moreover, the rest of the executive team falls short as well. Many have deluded themselves into thinking they are strong leaders, yet their actions reveal a lack of trust, rampant micromanagement, excessive involvement in trivial matters, and a lack of clear direction. Communication among the three major owners—Cineplex, Scotiabank, and Empire—is poor, with Scene often treated more like an extension of these organizations rather than a distinct entity. This results in passive executive leadership that fails to advocate for Scene’s needs and hampers its ability to focus on effective marketing strategies. Career progression is non-existent despite pledges of career development. The absurd push to be in-office is deemed necessary for enhanced collaboration, but there is none and the mandate is not enforced for at least half of the company. Compensation is not competitive, yet employees are expected to be responsive to emails, calls, and messages outside of normal working hours, including weekends and holidays. Perhaps the most demoralizing aspect is the lack of communication. New people are hired? No communication. Someone outperforms on a major project or launch of a new partner? No recognition. Team members resign? Departures are not announced, denying colleagues the opportunity to bid farewell. All of this demonstrates a troubling disregard for the team. This lack of transparency and respect is a clear indication that management underestimates the impact of these things and fails to value their employees. In summary, the toxic leadership, lack of clear direction, poor communication, and disregard for employee well-being make Scene a miserable place to work. But fear not! When it comes time to share the results of the employee NPS score to the board of directors, the executive leadership team will continue to cherry pick the data from those who have worked at Scene for less than a year because these poor souls typically haven’t been around long enough to fully understand just how awful Scene is.