Lack of diversity...
If you're a Caucasian you're good - otherwise you're making up numbers
Push to increase employment of women (at risk of positive discrimination) - this is a Tech Sales company in an inherently male dominated industry - fact
No doubt, next push will be to target other minority groups - LGBT community, Wheelchair Users, etc. spending disproportionate budget on gender neutral toilets, ramps...
Also helps to be middle aged
Specific shortcomings:
SALES - purely focused on themselves at all times, do not act selflessly or have any intention of integrating with wider business - added to which, lack of role model behaviors
HR - Who are HR ? - Hardly ever there in body (flagrant stretch of working from home policy) let alone mind even if they are present - Incompetent at best but KPI's will tell you otherwise.
Staffed by part timers that ensure they have each other’s back at all times - Smiling assassins
Save yourself the time and Google the answer to your question
MARKETING - Happy Clappy prima facie, where everyone seems to be a manager...but Business Ops hardly ever in office (vacation / work / sick / vacation / work / sick...repeat)
IT - Generally, Male, Sweaty and Full of themselves - switch off and back on again and save yourself the trauma of engaging
p.s. curtain haircuts went out of fashion with the Spice Girls
CORP SERVICES - People that do the work are Outstanding. However, People Managers are APPALLING - known bullies with track records that Senior management continues to fail to act upon
PSD - Great work ethic - but a lot of effort for very little contribution to bottom line.
Also, PSD Ops is a closed shop run with aggressive management, Eurythmics 1908's - just nod your head, agree and move on if you want a quiet life
FINANCE - Grey with a sprinkling of personality. Beware Mean Girls that congregate in corridors to gossip /moan about the most inane things
LEGAL - Lovely, Lovely, Lovely but dominated
ISG - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme "They've got it, so we want it as well"
MEMEX - You're not Memex anymore - act like One SAS
All the benefits of being a private company lead to poor embedded behaviors - akin to spoilt children (e.g. Sense of entitlement, Resistance to change - "This is how I've always done things", "I know what I'm doing - I've been here 20+ years" )
Being privately held aside, business is run like a charity instead of focusing on bottom line - Yes look after your employees and be paternalistic but priority surely must be on bottom line. Critical headcount requests are rejected but management will happily sign off on a five figure Xmas party only attended by the smallest element of the business / a totally unnecessary annual fireworks event / Summer party... ?
Too much deadwood in the organisation - adding little to no value, at inflated salaries, living off of former glories, aided by reluctance to performance manage due to effort and difficult discussions required
Don't fall out with influential people - sometimes (read most times) better to keep your head down, your nose clean and stay out of any politics - problem is, politics will some how find you and get you involved
Too slow to react to change in the industry and conclude projects / implement systems (every project takes four times as long to implement, at twice the cost) - demotivating for talented, ambitious employees who are usually at no fault and failed by management indecision