1) There's a big difference between what is promised during interviews and what you actually do - personally, the role I actually did was nothing like the role we discussed throughout the interview process, and I know this is true for others.
2) There's an uncomfortable us vs. them dynamic between the handful of 'original' employees and those hired in later tranches. As a later employee, I was made to feel like I was always treading on toes, and unless you were part of the 'club', you always had to look over your shoulder, which is a really oppressive feeling.
3) On the surface, Tem leadership will say the usual cliches like 'we want people to challenge assumptions and bring new ideas'. However, building on the previous point, any opinion that diverges from the strict company line sets you out as a marked person. It felt like being part of a fanatical cult where your agency is strangled.
4) One really disappointing aspect of the company more broadly is that they simply don't live up to the 'transparency' they often tout and this whole idea of being on the side of the customer. Tem engages in exactly the same skulduggery as all the incumbent energy suppliers who they constantly berate, with a very 'creative' set of 'incentives' for brokers to place business with them...
5) Normally in start-ups/scale-ups, there's a sense of everyone being in the trenches together. This means collectively owning failures and all pulling together to come up with solutions, regardless of 'rank'. Unfortunately at Tem, far too often, individuals are singled-out for collective failures which is really uncomfortable to witness. Even if someone did make a mistake (probably with the best intentions!!), it's just not ok to behave like this. It's also really demotivating when a team is busting a gut to fix an issue while certain members of the leadership are taking regular days off to play padel with friends or attend hyrox events. The CCO is very quick to single-out people for punishment, but is never part of a solution. In all my career I've never known anything like it.
I had such high hopes prior to joining Tem - they came and coaxed me away from my previous (nice) job - I was sold the dream. I felt I could bring some new, useful perspective to the business and help accelerate it's expansion. They offered me an excellent pay package, so I felt the risk was worth taking. But I can say unequivocally that no amount of money was worth the feeling of oppression and isolation I experienced. After I left Tem, my wife commented that she finally had me back, which says it all really.
