I have waited a number of years to write this review as I wanted to ensure I did not write anything reactionary. With experience working for a number of companies, large and small, I can say without hesitation that this is the worst experience of my career.
I worked in sales/account management at Laserfische International in Hong Kong. Although the product was fairly good and the company had grown on the back of it (albeit less so in recent years as bigger players have increased competition), there is a severe management problem which will hinder any career progression. Please don't interpret this as blame on the company due to personal poor performance - I had taken my region of sales to record levels year on year.
The crux of the problem lies in the massively egotistical individual in charge who has a distrust of both employees and clients. He would provide no support to the team, instead berating team members over the handling of accounts. In some cases this involved full on shouting, telling employees they are useless and worthless, audible even when the door is closed. I would have quit on the spot had this been me as this is no way to treat a human let alone a team member. One colleague who did quit on the spot received an expletive laden berating for being a "loser" in front of the whole team.
In addition to the above, when seeking a collaborative approach to service clients, he would often distance himself and it would be on you if the chosen approach didn't work. All too often I have seen colleagues thrown under the bus (in front of senior directors from head office) for unfavorable sales numbers. On one occasion, he attempted to justify his behaviour as Darwinism, that he had lasted X years and is now in the position to target the weak.
I have formed close relationships with clients who find him equally difficult to work with, such is the ludicrously odd position I found myself in. And then be told not to get too close with clients(!)
I felt sorry for new employees, whether in marketing, sales or technical, who came in with genuine fresh ideas as any genuine effort to add value is stifled by management, leading to discontent and eventually people quitting - hence high turnover.
