Awful CEO and place to work - Avis employé Employé (anonyme) Ark Workplace Risk

1,0
27 oct. 2022
Employé (anonyme)
Recommande
Approbation du PDG
Perspective commerciale

Avantages

Nothing to recommend this business

Inconvénients

Awful, overbearing CEO. A constant stream of employee turnover, including Directors that are highly experienced and extremely capable due to the overbearing nature of the CEO. Avoid this place at all costs.

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Réponse de Ark Workplace Risk
3y
Thank you for the review. What comes to mind is gender biased by choosing "overbearing" the opposite word of submissive. It’s a tricky one describing female leaders especially in a social media post as "overbearing" and stating this as a reason to avoid this company is a little disappointing. We believe women here can be strong willed, determined and straightforward. At Ark we discourage gender biases as we believe our female leaders can make successful careers at Ark, because they feel comfortable being authentic, and if that means displaying qualities associated with their male leaders, then that’s very acceptable here at Ark too. Our ethos is not who you are, but what you are about. We suspect a company like ours is a refreshing difference to the industry we specialise in, and is one of our USPs. According to Forbes - in the workforce, it is well established that women must contend with a host of biases that make the climb up an organizational ladder steeper and more arduous. For instance, when women act with equal assertiveness to men, they are perceived as being too bossy. Likewise, ambition and competitiveness are negatively correlated with like-ability for women whereas the opposite is true for men (as was evidenced in the famous Heidi/Howard experiment).  Ark are deeply passionate about tackling gender biases and creating the environment for women to have the same free from biases.

Découvrez plus d’avis sur Ark Workplace Risk

1,0
29 mai 2026
Recommande
Approbation du PDG
Perspective commerciale

Avantages

I would strongly caution anyone considering joining this company. Based on my experience, the company has a serious leadership and culture problem. The management style I observed was authoritarian, aggressive, and often dismissive of employees. Rather than building people up, encouraging professional growth, or creating a constructive working environment, the culture appeared to rely on fear, criticism, and control. The CEO’s leadership style was, in my view, a major concern. I experienced and observed communication that felt intimidating and unprofessional, including situations where people were criticised or embarrassed in front of others. Independent thinking did not seem to be welcomed, and employees appeared reluctant to speak honestly because of how they might be treated. I also found the business leadership itself to be poor. For a company that claims significant experience, I was surprised by what I saw as weak management practice, limited commercial judgement, and a lack of modern people-leadership skills. This was one of the most negative workplace cultures I have encountered in my career. In my opinion, the company needs serious change at leadership level before it can be considered a healthy or professional place to work, the CEO needs to be replaced as well. Prospective employees should ask careful questions about management style, staff turnover, internal culture, and how disagreement is handled before accepting any role here.

Inconvénients

Unfortunately, none, I wish I could have at least one

1
1,0
8 juin 2026
Recommande
Approbation du PDG
Perspective commerciale

Avantages

None, just toxic and unhealthy environment

Inconvénients

I would strongly caution anyone considering joining this company. In my experience, this was not simply a difficult workplace. It was a deeply unhealthy environment where poor leadership, fear, favouritism, and bullying behaviour appeared to shape the culture from the top down. The leadership style I experienced was intimidating, aggressive, and often dismissive of employees. Criticism did not feel constructive. It often felt personal, humiliating, and designed to control rather than improve performance. I witnessed and experienced behaviour that, in my opinion, crossed the line from poor management into workplace bullying. People were made to feel small, spoken to in ways I considered unacceptable, and left feeling anxious about raising even reasonable concerns. The impact on employees should not be underestimated. In my view, the culture was damaging to people’s confidence, wellbeing, and mental health. I am aware of people who struggled significantly after working there, and some felt they needed external support or therapy because of the stress and treatment they experienced. That is not normal workplace pressure. That is a sign of a serious cultural problem. I also had major concerns about fairness, governance, and independence within leadership. From what I observed, close personal relationships with the CEO appeared to overlap with senior or influential positions in the company. This created, in my view, a perception of favouritism and a lack of proper professional distance. It was difficult to believe that leadership decisions, opportunities, and benefits were always based purely on merit. The same concern applied to benefits and treatment. In my experience, certain advantages, support, or better conditions seemed to be concentrated around senior leadership and those close to the CEO, while ordinary employees were left with far less protection, support, or consideration. This made the company feel divided between a protected inner circle and everyone else. I would also be cautious when reading the positive reviews. In my opinion, they do not reflect the reality many employees experienced. I believe staff were encouraged to write positive reviews to counterbalance the negative ones, and the positive comments often felt more like reputation management than genuine employee sentiment. By contrast, many negative reviews describe patterns that closely match what I personally experienced and observed. For a company that presents itself as professional and established, I found the internal culture shockingly poor. The business appeared to lack modern people leadership, emotional intelligence, transparency, and accountability. HR did not feel genuinely independent, and I did not feel employees could safely challenge leadership or raise concerns without fear of consequences. This was one of the most toxic workplace environments I have encountered. In my opinion, the company needs serious change at the highest level before it can be considered a healthy or professional place to work. That includes independent scrutiny of leadership behaviour, governance, workplace culture, staff turnover, employee wellbeing, and how concerns are handled. Anyone interviewing here should ask very direct questions about staff retention, bullying complaints, leadership accountability, HR independence, benefits, favouritism, and whether employees feel genuinely safe speaking honestly.

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