G-Research

People

Compensation

Work/life balance

Security has stopped getting in the way as much as it used to

Highly successful company (sometimes in spite of itself)

Security is done pretty well, but it dominates much of what platform and IT teams work on. Open source is usually not good enough without an internal project to make it "high integrity".

Nothing is easy as a consequence - many things take a much longer time to get done than feels reasonable.

It's a big company, with big company politics. Management isn't candid about problems and there is a lack of trust. Decisions are made too close to the top, as opposed to where the people with the information to make the best decisions are. Management doesn't feel "happy".

There still isn't enough internal mobility, although this has improved.

Read "Radical Candor". Too much of middle management at GR falls into the "ruinous empathy" quadrant. Difficult conversations are seldom had until it is far too late.

People who never rock the boat and manage by committee get promoted into positions of power and influence, especially in middle to upper management. Senior management then complain they can't delegate difficult decisions to these people.

Truth is seldom spoken to power, and when it is it is usually batted away as an inconvenience rather than welcomed or rewarded.

Senior management does not provide enough praise, and when it does come, it often feels hollow and/or directed at established senior figures rather than those doing the real work. They seem very disconnected.

Management and communications feel extremely hierarchical - you have to make your own networks; the organisation doesn't help you here.