“Simplify, Modernise, Accelerate”… Somehow Achieving None of Them
Pros
There are still some genuinely good people in the business who work extremely hard despite the environment they are operating in. Many employees are capable, supportive, and doing their best to hold things together under difficult circumstances. The company also presents itself exceptionally well externally. Social media, branding, marketing, and award submissions are all polished and professional, and leadership are undeniably skilled at building a strong outward image for the business. In particular, the company is remarkably effective at writing award applications and securing industry recognition, even when the internal reality does not necessarily reflect the image being presented externally. If the same level of effort and attention that goes into marketing, awards, and appearances was applied consistently to operational delivery, staff retention, and internal culture, the company would likely be in a far stronger position.
Cons
The company presents itself externally as an innovative, technology-first, AI-driven business focused on outcomes, transformation, and “challenging the norm”. Internally, it increasingly feels like an organisation being held together by exhausted employees, relentless branding exercises, and whatever management trend leadership discovered on LinkedIn that week. There has been a constant exodus of experienced and genuinely capable staff over recent years, many of whom either left voluntarily or were pushed out for doing something apparently unforgivable: questioning poor decisions, highlighting obvious operational problems, or expecting some level of consistency and accountability from leadership. The revolving door of talent is impossible to ignore, and the longer you stay, the clearer it becomes why so many good people no longer work there. Decision-making is chaotic and changes at a pace that makes strategic planning almost impossible. Entire priorities, processes, and directions can reverse within days depending on who has most recently spoken to senior leadership. Teams spend more time firefighting internally created confusion than actually delivering meaningful work. The phrase “Simplify, Modernise, Accelerate” is repeated constantly, despite the business regularly achieving the exact opposite. Systems are outdated, processes are inconsistent, communication is poor, and even basic tasks regularly become unnecessarily complicated. What should be simple often turns into an exhausting exercise in chasing information, navigating contradictory instructions, or waiting for decisions that may completely reverse a few days later anyway. Operational maturity appears to have been replaced by panic, noise, and meetings about meetings. The company also talks endlessly about culture, innovation, collaboration, continuous improvement, and “challenging the norm”. In reality, many of these values seem to function primarily as wall decorations and marketing content. Employees are encouraged to challenge ideas right up until they actually do. At that point, constructive criticism suddenly becomes “negativity”, and people raising legitimate concerns often find themselves isolated, ignored, or quietly pushed out. Even the company’s values appear to evolve depending on the latest rebrand or leadership mood. Over the years there have been multiple versions of “core values”, all centred around communication, innovation, teamwork, improvement, and transparency, yet the lived experience inside the business often feels completely disconnected from those ideas. Eventually employees stop taking the culture messaging seriously because it feels more like a branding exercise than something leadership genuinely believes in or consistently demonstrates. There is also an obvious culture of favouritism and nepotism in parts of the business. Loyalty and personal relationships appear to carry significantly more weight than competence or results. Family members and favourites seem protected regardless of performance, while genuinely talented employees are overworked, ignored, or shown the door. Watching incapable people fail upwards while experienced staff burn out keeping the business functional becomes exhausting very quickly. The obsession with appearing innovative externally has created a growing disconnect between branding and reality. The company talks constantly about AI, transformation, automation, and being technology-first, while internally struggling with fundamentals that many far smaller businesses manage perfectly well. A significant amount of the real technical capability that once existed has either left or been driven out, yet the marketing machine continues at full speed regardless. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect is the complete disconnect between leadership messaging and the reality employees are experiencing day to day. Staff are dealing with redundancies, cost-cutting, frozen or refused pay rises, and constant pressure to “do more with less”, while leadership simultaneously appears comfortable spending significant amounts of money on vanity projects, sponsorships, executive perks, and various other expensive distractions. What makes this even worse is the constant attempt to downplay or obscure the financial reality internally rather than communicating honestly with staff. Employees are repeatedly told everything is fine while watching cuts, instability, and operational pressure increase around them. It creates a culture where appearances and narrative management seem to matter far more than transparency, trust, or rewarding the people actually keeping the business afloat. Sales pressure is relentless, targets are often unrealistic, and there seems to be little concern about whether operational teams can realistically deliver what customers are being promised. Short-term appearances frequently take priority over long-term sustainability, internal stability, or staff wellbeing. The frustrating part is that the business genuinely had potential and still has some very good people trying to keep things afloat. Unfortunately, leadership inconsistency, ego, politics, and a complete inability to accept criticism have gradually hollowed the place out. At times it feels less like a technology company and more like a live-action case study in how to undermine your own business while congratulating yourselves for winning awards about it.
