1y
Hello
Firstly, thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings about HelloSelf. I am sorry you did not feel you could share them directly with me.
I will not deny that there have been some difficult decisions regarding people and the organisation’s structure. We are trying to solve a really important problem, and in trying to do so we were neither succeeding quickly, or learning quickly, or creating the right learning dynamics in the team. Hence the need for change. Change was necessary but of course very challenging to work through and experience at times.
There are some points in your note that simply are not true. I understand you feel we could have done things better, but I feel truth is important.
When we made changes the leadership team was more affected than any other team, it is not true that there is one rule of the LT and one for the company. We are all one team. This has been further reinforced by our commitment to have everyone in the detail. We don't want people managers. We need problem solvers. This has been working so much better since the summer, and we have seen culture metrics improve significantly.
We did not decide to keep an office and loose people instead. In fact we did the opposite. We changed office and working patterns specifically so we could keep great people doing our most important work. I have always been an advocate of hybrid working. We implemented this pre covid and it is core to our value of ‘You’re in Control’.
I also have to disagree with you regarding favoritism, but I have obviously failed with my communication. I like listening to everyone in the organisation and being fair is core to my values. It is certainly true that I am constantly asking a variety of people to input into key decisions.
On your specific points: The Chief of Staff was offered the role when they had committed to move back to the UK. The Business Development Manager role is very difficult to do from overseas as you need to see clients, and we tried to find alternative roles in different departments for that brilliant individual. Although your facts are wrong, it does show I have more work to do in how we communicate these decisions and demonstrate fairness.
As you know I believe what we are doing is important, and therefore if you are still at HelloSelf I hope you agree that the recent changes have made a huge positive difference. Whether you are here or have left as part of the changes, I hope you know I will always be open to hearing from you and understanding what actions you would like to have seen, so please do get in touch.
All the best
Charlie.
