Toxic culture, terrible leadership, a truly awful workplace - Principal Made Tech Employee Review

Thanks for sharing this feedback. I'm really sorry to see the depth of feeling here. I'd love to start by acknowledging a point I think is fair - we didn't get everything right when establishing the UCD practice. This was the first capability we’ve need to build quickly from the ground up, so we’re taking a good look at what we can learn from this. I can also hold my hands up and say, as a leader at Made Tech, we're always learning and striving to do better. Mistakes will always be made and we will never be in a position where we get everything exactly right. What I can emphasise is our genuine determination to keep learning and keep doing better. I'm saddened to hear the word toxic mentioned in this and some other feedback from your direct peers. Though I whole-heartedly accept that that might be how things seem from within one particular team at Made Tech, I truly believe that this doesn't apply at Made Tech as a whole. Of course the top priority for us now is to make sure our positive culture is shared and felt by all parts of the business, including those which are newly-established and have since grown very quickly. I'd like to re-share my response I've shared with another former Principal from our design community, as much of it is relevant to other points made here: “Thanks for sharing this feedback with us. I'm really sad and sorry to see the level of frustration you clearly feel. That's certainly something I take extremely seriously. We're looking long and hard at what we can learn from our rapid growth, and how we can better manage and plan for those times, as well as times when the economy is more challenging. We also want to make sure people joining Made Tech know how we operate - as a commercial business committed to improving public sector services. We're lucky to have people on the team with a wealth of public sector experience. We need to work harder to help those people fit into this more commercial environment, which they contribute so much to. One thing I think we need to more clearly communicate is the correlation between our commercial health and success, and the success of our people. I truly don't believe we have to choose between being a commercially-focused organisation and a people-focused organisation. But clearly there's much more work we should be doing to make sure this is both understood and felt in all parts of the business. It's crushing to hear that you've found our feedback culture toxic. When we started out as a software engineering company, this was a fundamental part of our culture and our success – a culture where everyone supported and helped everyone else to keep doing better - not as individuals, but as a team. By and large, I truly think we've scaled that successfully, and that's a culture I still very much believe in. But it's clear that we haven't fully managed to instil this in all the capabilities that we've established in recent times, particularly those which have grown very quickly. This is of course something we’re working to address. We'll reflect on what we can do better to foster a positive culture where everyone can thrive, but also to make sure we make sure all our leaders are aligned to our mission and cultivate a culture of "One Made Tech" that everyone is invested in. You're very welcome to reach me by email if you have any specific concerns I can address. Thanks again for sharing your feedback.” Rory