Avoid at ALL costs - Administrative Story2 Employee Review

1.0
25 Jan 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible hours. Staff (excluding the CEO) are hard-working and professional.

Cons

This is my honest opinion about working at Story2 - I’m guessing the positive reviews are from employees who had minimal interaction with the CEO. It's clear to see what the issue is at this company, and it begins and ends with the CEO. She is emotionally manipulative, incompetent, immature, unstable, vengeful, and above all, a bully. Like other reviews have mentioned, the turnover rate is incredibly high (over a period of three months, four staff left - I believe there is only one full time staffer now that has managed to stay at the company for longer than a year). These individuals were competent and skilled workers, but those types of employees clearly don't last at this company, because the toxic work environment causes anyone with a shred of self-respect to quit quickly. The issue with the CEO stems from her personality and approach to running a "business" (the word business should be used very, very loosely here). There’s no strategy or business plan at Story2. There's no clear leadership, no HR department, no onboarding/hiring orientation for most positions, and so forth. About the CEO - to echo other reviews, she is extremely volatile and prone to aggressive outbursts; she will openly disrespect employees (in front of other staff on calls), and criticize other employees to staff behind their back. She can't seem to effectively communicate the basics of job expectations, but absolutely can expect you to read her mind and will belittle you if you don't deliver on her unspoken expectations. If she doesn't understand something (a project, a technology platform, etc.) she will become extremely irritable and take out her frustrations on you personally. This creates an extremely hostile and toxic work environment - I cannot stress enough that whatever you hope to get out of this job is not worth your mental health and sanity. It's incredible that she has managed to get away with this behavior and lack of professionalism that would absolutely not be tolerated at any regular, functioning company. There's no excuse (despite her attempts to excuse and/or apologize after her episodes are over, only to repeat the cycle again) that justifies the way she behaves in the workplace.

Explore other reviews about Story2

5.0
22 Mar 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Really great company, employees who will make you feel welcomed

Cons

I think because this is a start-up environment, the work pace was sometimes confusing to navigate

1.0
11 Sept 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible hours, Easily accessible office location

Cons

Turnover is extremely high (From August 2018 to September 2019, all but one full-time staffer, excluding the CEO, left the organization. This includes folks who entered the organization and left within that year). CEO micromanaged some tasks while failing to communicate clear expectations, leaving staff unable to act on her unspoken but very real expectations. Hiring practices are at best incompetent and at worse intentionally deceptive (for example, new hires are told they receive 30 days of PTO. Yet, PTO does not accrue for 6 months, and accruals are not retroactive once an employee reaches six months. As such, first-year employees who were promised 30 days are actually given 15). The CEO casually discusses employees' performance with other employees even when those conversations should be confidential. This is a small, 10-year-old "start up" with no HR department. The CEO does not appear to understand the basics of management, including how to conduct regular performance reviews or how to give feedback in a way that encourages growth and action.

3
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