This was, in my opinion, the worst experience of my professional journey to date. Don’t buy into the ‘family’ rhetoric—this place feels more like a cult to me. In my experience, they are everything they claim not to be.
Culture:
In my view, you have to be a very specific type of person to thrive here, and unfortunately, that type doesn’t seem to be ambitious or accomplished.
I found the recruitment process overly lengthy and unnecessarily intense, with comments about getting “many sets of prints” in case something went wrong, which I interpreted as indicative of a blame culture. It seemed to me that the concept of servant leadership was poorly understood, and there seemed to be a lack of emotional intelligence across the organisation.
This company appears to employ people for routine tasks like cropping photos, while weaving a narrative that oversells its understanding of the social and psychological complexities of bereavement. In my opinion, this creates a false image of uniqueness and uses the ‘family’ trope to justify poor practices.
During my time there, I witnessed conversations that I felt were racist, sexist, and discriminatory against neurodivergent individuals. To me, these conversations happened without fear of consequence, which I believe reflects the culture that has been allowed to develop.
From my perspective, Vivedia doesn’t understand the value of hiring experts to leverage their knowledge and experience. Instead, it seemed as though staff were expected to conform to a rigid way of thinking. In my experience, challenge and debate were actively discouraged.
It’s my view that the CEO appeared to lack exposure to effective leadership, which might explain why I saw the C-Suite as poorly equipped. To me, they seemed to consist mostly of ‘yes men’ with no significant achievements in their fields prior to joining. Their lack of challenge seemed to align with what I felt the CEO valued most—viewing people as assets to control rather than individuals to empower.
The business seems to believe it is a fun and vibrant place to work, but in my experience, it was characterised more by nepotism and self-interest. It felt out of touch with modern practices.
Leadership:
In my opinion, the CEO has a tendency to micromanage and appears to lack self-awareness. I also got the impression that he surrounds himself with older women who seem to be his favourites, tolerating behaviours I felt were inappropriate. To me, this dynamic appeared to be driven by a perception that their opportunities elsewhere might be limited.
In my view, the CEO doesn’t seem to genuinely care about grief and bereavement, instead focusing on maintaining the reputation that sustains the business. Offering the occasional free service might make him appear compassionate, but to me, it felt like a PR exercise rather than a genuine commitment.
From my perspective, there was a disregard for people and a lack of risk assessments before staff visits to customer environments highlighted this. Work-life balance seemed to be a foreign concept here.
The CEOs obsession with what is called ‘immersion’ is framed as essential, despite what I see as a lack of empirical evidence to support its value. Other approaches didn’t seem to be explored. It felt to me as though he couldn’t separate his personal journey of building a business from the needs of employees in other roles, expecting them to care as deeply as he does despite their differing stakes in the company.
I found the Chief Operations Officer reactive and, in my view, lacking the skills needed to drive great performance. Instead, I felt they relied on assigning blame.
The Chief Commerical Officer struck me as disliked by customers and ridiculed by staff. In my experience, they seemed to lack emotional intelligence and frequently expressed antiquated views, including opinions that I felt were racist and misogynistic. To me, they lacked authenticity, took credit for others’ work, and engaged in triangulation that I considered devious.
Outlook and reflections:
I think Vivedia will face challenges with staff attraction and retention in the future, seemingly relying on the founder’s favourites, many of whom don’t appear to have experience outside the organisation to inform better practices.
In my opinion, the company’s success during the COVID pandemic may have masked its deeper issues. From my perspective, the people management practices are dire, psychological safety is nonexistent, and the only people who seem content are those who have convinced themselves they’re helping people cope with grief.
For an established professional, I don’t believe this is an environment for growth. I would recommend avoiding what I see as a toxic workplace that seems to believe working in the bereavement sector makes it exempt from the rules and standards applied to others.
In my view, any positive energy in the office is in no way a result of senior leadership.
Advice:
In my opinion, it’s best to stay away. Save yourself the frustration and avoid being tempted to find out for yourself—you’ll thank yourself later.
