A family company - Demand Generation Manager Board Intelligence Employee Review

3.0
Oct 27, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I had a great time at BI, I worked in an a great marketing team and my first manager really looked after us. The ceos are great, and really caring.

Cons

The company isn’t exactly what I’d call diverse, there were a lot of people from similar backgrounds there, and if you didn’t fit within the demographic you were on the outside. Several times during my tenure I heard ‘oh the Essex girl’ not a term I find particularly offensive, but still it’s not nice to hear. I had four managers over a space of 13 months, which meant my progression plans were never really followed up on. I was asked several times ‘is your baby planned’ when I fell pregnant which I found truly offensive, just as it wasn’t the norm, alongside this the maternity policy is truly poor. My biggest issue and my main reason for leaving was progression, they’re not keen on promoting internally but then are shocked when you leave for a higher role.

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Board Intelligence Response
3y
Thanks for leaving your feedback. Firstly, I want to unreservedly apologise for the questions you received about your pregnancy. I consider us to be highly inclusive and supportive of families of all shapes and sizes, and it doesn’t make me proud that that’s something you experienced while you worked at BI. We are a passionately family friendly firm which is why when we launched our Maternity Policy it was upper quartile according to all of the relevant benchmarks we could find. But we don’t believe that is the right benchmark to strive for and so we’re reviewing our Parental Leave policies to raise the bar still higher and we hope to launch this before the end of the year. We’ve always taken the progress of our colleagues seriously, but this year our marquee People project has been to roll out Career Development Pathways – clear career structures – to allow our people to manage their careers in a more transparent way. We’ve seen many success stories in our home-grown talent over the years, and as we grow we hope this new approach will help us to scale that. We strive to build a diverse team in the fullest sense and we analyse this closely with anonymous company-wide surveys each year, to track gender, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation and socio-economic backgrounds amongst other things. We are proud to be well ahead of the national average across the majority of these measures both at management level and in the company at large, but we are far from complacent and our Inclusion & Diversity team alongside our leadership team, our Co-CEOs and myself, are passionately committed to doing more to create more fairness and opportunity. If you’d like to talk, please do reach out to me. The issue that you’ve raised are things we care deeply about and I will always be glad to take your call and to discuss how we do better in the future.

Explore other reviews about Board Intelligence

5.0
May 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

The people and culture are what make this place so special- everyone genuinely cares about the product and works really collaboratively. It’s been exciting being part of such an innovative team, and I’m really grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to grow my career while learning and experimenting with AI along the way.

Cons

No cons - I'm happy!

1.0
Feb 14, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company operates in an interesting space and the product itself has strong potential. For those early in their careers, there is exposure to complex problems, senior stakeholders, and fast paced work that can help build resilience and technical experience. Colleagues at a peer level were generally supportive, hardworking, and easy to get along with. Despite the challenges, many people genuinely cared about doing good work and supporting one another where possible. There were individuals across teams who were knowledgeable, capable, and a pleasure to collaborate with. In earlier periods, the company culture was more welcoming and friendly, and there are still remnants of that among long standing employees. When processes were clear and expectations aligned, work could feel rewarding and impactful. The role itself can offer a steep learning curve, and for those who thrive under pressure and ambiguity, it may provide short term professional development. However, these positives are heavily dependent on team, manager, and timing.

Cons

During my time at the company, there was a pronounced and growing divide between the executive C suite level and the wider organisation. Leadership felt distant and inaccessible, with little meaningful engagement or transparency. Teams operated in silos, collaboration was limited, and there was very little space for new ideas or genuine innovation. Decisions were often made without input from those closest to the work. Over time, the environment became increasingly micromanaged. Autonomy and trust were replaced with excessive oversight, leaving employees feeling scrutinised rather than supported. Creativity and ownership were actively discouraged, which was frustrating for anyone who wanted to do more than simply get through their workload. Workloads were consistently high, with expectations that often felt unrealistic and unsustainable. This contributed to burnout and a noticeable increase in staff turnover in recent months. The pace and pressure were relentless, with little consideration for capacity, wellbeing, or work life balance. The company culture also changed significantly for the worse. What was once a relatively warm and friendly environment became cold, tense, and stressful. Morale declined noticeably, and the workplace began to feel more draining than motivating. Personally, I reached a point where I no longer enjoyed coming to work. There were also clear issues with people management. Several managers lacked empathy and the skills needed to effectively lead and develop their teams. Feedback was inconsistent, support was limited, and there was little investment in individual growth. Career progression was particularly unclear. Appraisal processes, performance frameworks, and growth paths changed frequently, making it difficult to understand expectations or feel confident about development opportunities. Ultimately, there are many companies where leadership is more approachable, inclusive, and willing to listen. Where executives will sit down with employees at all levels and foster a culture of respect rather than hierarchy. Unfortunately, that was not my experience here. Based on the direction of the company and my time there, I would strongly advise others to think carefully before joining.

2
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Board Intelligence Response
1mo
Thank you for taking the time to share this feedback. We genuinely appreciate you doing so, and we want you to know that reviews like this are not dismissed or taken lightly. It is encouraging to hear that you valued the calibre of your colleagues and found the work itself stimulating, particularly in the earlier stages of your time here. However, we are sorry to read that your overall experience did not reflect the environment we aspire to create. The concerns you have raised around leadership visibility, workload, career development, and the shift in culture are significant, and we take them seriously. We are actively working on a number of these areas, including how we support managers to lead with greater empathy and consistency, how we communicate career frameworks more clearly, and how we create more space for honest, two way dialogue at all levels of the business. If you are open to it, we would really welcome the opportunity to speak with you directly. These conversations are most useful when we can understand the specifics behind the experience, and everything shared with the People team is treated in confidence. Please do reach out to us at people@boardintelligence.com or speak with a member of the team directly. Board Intelligence People Team
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