Disconnected, Disorganised, Disgusting Behaviour - Anonymous employee Sage Employee Review

1.0
Sep 23, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice offices So many good opportunities if the management would just listen to their staff, this place under the new structure does have potential.

Cons

I’ve read though a lot of the reviews for Sage and a few key words stick out.. Bullying, Arrogant, Toxic, Soulless, Egotistical, Narcissistic environment. After experiencing the globalisation changes first hand I can only agree, If anything, maybe SAGE stands for Soulless, Arrogant, Giant, Ego because this is exactly how the senior managers come across to their staff. If Stephen Kelly wants a company that promotes “Customers for Life” then he needs to start looking inwards first and start encouraging “Staff Development for Life”. My experience at Sage has been incredibility painful during this transition, after having no direction or communication for what seemed like ages, we then went through the restructure itself. I can fully understand the reasons for the restructure, I can also fully understand the lack of communication, what I cannot fully understand is an attitude of blame from senior managers towards staff for not achieving what seemed like confusing and directionless performance criteria. This after so many people had been culled in the business and so many more started to leave out of pure frustration. Sage, listen up, you might not condone “Bullying” in your organisation but it is happening on a daily basis. Anyone person who hides behind authority without taking accountability for their complete disconnection with what is going on is a bully. For me, this glass door website has been a fantastic reassurance to read so many reviews from people who have had similar experiences, this is almost like a self-help group for people who have had their confidence and self-esteem destroyed by SAGE My Sage Survival Story I worked in the London Office and was managed by somebody in the Newcastle office over Video Conference, I was accused in my performance review that there seemed to be “a bit of a disconnect” in my performance since the restructure. “A BIT OF A DISCONNET”, you are doing a performance review over Video Conference with bad sound quality in another part of the country, from a basic psychology point of view this is the most obvious “Self-Projection” I have ever heard. This is essentially the biggest problem with Sage, the Senior execs are all in the Ivory Tower of the Shard trying to run a company that they are completely disconnected with, relying on social media, ego and narcissism instead of having any actual substance. To have Trust, you need to be Trustworthy, To have “Customers for Life” you need to have a company that has a soul with substance.

avatar
Sage Response
9y
Thanks for your feedback. This is not the Sage I recognise, we simply do not accept the behaviours you outline here. No one would be happy to work in such an environment you describe, me included and this is not what I personally see, feel or hear. We do value our people and as a former colleague, you are aware we are undertaking a period of organisational change to make us stronger, better and more customer focused than ever before. We recognise not everyone will be happy with changes – it’s not easy. Some of the changes we are making will ensure talent management is at the heart of our people processes. Also reward and recognition is important to all of us. We are committed to making improvements to enhance the lives of our colleagues. We are currently in the process of pulling together a ‘Leading at Sage’ program which will be available for all managers, it will focus on the ‘people management’ aspects to their role. We believe this will make a real difference. There's also other innovative ideas in the pipeline which we truly believe will make a difference to life at Sage for all our fantastic colleagues. Please contact me to discuss some of these issues further by writing to glassdoor@sage.com

Explore other reviews about Sage

5.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They will work with you and teach you everything you need to know and help you as long as you help yourself and meet kpi but they help you meet it

Cons

No cons to add at this time

2.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

was hired as remote and get to have that honored, but have been openly told no career progression because of remote status. decent pay

Cons

Leadership instability: Seven manager changes during my relatively short tenure. Unrealistic targets: A sales quota set at 1,100% growth (not a typo). Slow product development: Getting anything actioned on the product side takes far too long. Product management turnover: Three product manager changes, resulting in no meaningful deliverables in over three years. Misaligned hiring priorities: Greater emphasis on DEI optics than on hiring people positioned to drive growth. Internal vs. customer focus: More energy spent on internal events than on product enhancements. Lack of accountability (the biggest issue): No one takes ownership. Responsibility gets passed around constantly — for example, client cancellations going unprocessed because they impact someone's numbers. Managers have openly encouraged pushing the work onto someone else rather than handling it.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All