Pros
Around three years ago, this section would have been filled with a description an of an exciting, friendly and collaborative environment to work in and a genuine sentiment that this could be the best place you would ever work. Now, the only pros are that if you’re close enough to a clique of senior leaders you will receive preferential treatment and promotions ahead of your colleagues. If you’re in this circle, blind eyes are turned to unethical and reprehensible behaviour. The Board of Directors are also blind or clueless – a pro if you’re wanting to run the company or departments through fear and bullying of staff with impunity.
Cons
It’s easy to blame the deployment of management consultants in mid 2020 as the sole cause of the problems at Lhasa, but the toxic environment is radiating from a small group of senior leaders and the CEO. Whilst Lhasa attempted to ‘change its ways of thinking’ - a perfectly normal business practice – the results have been devastating. Whilst there is a vision to empower staff to make decisions based on their experience and closeness to the work, the reality is that Lhasa has turned into a dictatorship where any ideas are micromanaged by senior leaders. Almost all processes and working procedures have been ‘redesigned’ by staff with no understanding or expertise of them. As a result, the ‘redesigns’ have created chaos in everyday work, with no clear responsibilities and all operations practically stopping for over a year. The culture of Lhasa is one of a police state, where trust has been demolished between colleagues as career progression is only possible if you are in favour with particular senior leaders. ‘Collaboration’ at Lhasa is to appear to work harmoniously whilst also preparing to betray your colleagues to be seen favourably. A critical absence of skill and ability at the company is terrifying, given that prospective employees are preferentially hired on ‘cultural fit’. Those promoted into senior positions are there because of their ‘loyalty’ or for their enthusiasm in the sheer ignorance of their incompetence. By any measures, Lhasa is in a poor state. As a software company, Lhasa has failed to create a coherent direction in its strategy for years, resulting in sub-standard software releases and a failure to accommodate changes in technology. Four heads of software in six years is quite damning. Turnover in the previous twelve months are beyond belief – nearly 50 employees have left the business, taking 200 years of collective Lhasa experience with them. This is a horror situation for a company of Lhasa’s size and unique section of industry, yet this exodus is welcomed and encouraged by the leadership. All of the negativity of Lhasa is the result of catastrophic leadership, where gaslighting and scapegoating staff in briefings is commonplace. The preference to addressing the company’s problems is by silencing dissent and writing false positive Glassdoor reviews. The social media whitewashing campaigns are also fooling nobody, as customers have noticed that things are not matching the narrative. The saddest measure is the annihilation of morale, motivation and the mental health of staff in the last 18 months. Staff have suffered both in and outside of work, but Lhasa has ripped out the culture of supportiveness – as there is a fear that talking about any struggles will be interpreted as ‘not liking the changes’.