This used to be a really good workplace, but the company has changed a lot. There is a long list of things that made Citrix a good place to work that are no longer here.
I'm interested in what are the things you would point out?
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Citrix was exposed by some REALLY poor decisions made by leadership during the pandemic. They thought they could grow MORE yoy from the bumper year when sales were indicating that customers pulled budget in from next years allowance. Then they dropped a load of cash on wrike. It was a double whammy ... cash poor and missing the over optimistic goals that were set. If you want to blame someone - that's where things went wrong.
I've only been with the company for nearly 2 years, so there really isn't anything I remember that would make me wish the last leadership team was still in place.
They were inept in many ways. They lied to customers, employees, and investors about the company's performance and financial viability. They consistently failed to invest in new technology that would position the company for the future. They made the company a target for private equity mercenaries who are now stip-mining the remaining assets, with the assistance of TK.
Maybe the company was a better place to work before I joined, but given what I've witnessed so far I think Citrix was doomed to a rapid decline for many years now.
We had good management, so now we deserve bad management because that's the rules of corporate culture and the natural order of the world?
Seems like we were all too highly paid, so we were due to be lowly paid
Seems like we had too many happy employees, so we were due to have miserable serfs
Seems like we were selling a lot, so we were due to sell less
Seems like interest rates were too low, so they had to go up
Seems like we had too much office space, so we need less office space
Seems like we had too many snacks, so now we need to lose weight
Seems like we enjoyed public company, so now we can suffer PE humdrums
The elevator that goes up must come down? All empires fall? The earth will be hit by an asteroid one day. Does it make sense that every person will have TK as a CEO?
Seems like we're suffering from the high of how management (diff mgmt team) handled the pandemic and the low (new mgmt team) are handling the consolidation and restructuring.
Look, Citrix was wayward a bit (think of all the bad acquisitions...) and fat in areas we shouldn't have been. Is right now maybe over the top? sure. But basically we were due for the shock and it hit right after we were treated very well by the previous team.
Agreed. I also felt they handled the pandemic and its effects on employees and their families very well. First time I felt like upper management really cared about what I and my family were going through. A shame to see how far that feeling has fallen.
The fact that Citrix had a basic understanding that people have lives & need some flexibility during the workday was something I really appreciated. Compared to my previous companies, it was a very modern approach & a key reason why I stayed for as long as I did. It sounds like a very small thing, but it had a significant impact.
Any effort to take this feedback to implement shallow changes reeks desperation will not retain employees because the social contract has fundamentally been broken. Not even replacing the dictator or bringing back thank you days or hybrid work will appease the workforce because there is no more trust. The only chance at fixing the culture is for the company to survive long enough where the entire workforce can be replaced. You're 40% of the way there. Good luck.
Everything previous posters stated plus - I miss when they thought we were adults and allowed us to work from home at least one day a week (pre-pandemic) or on days when you had a doctor appointment, cable install/repair, roof guy, etc. CSG under TK "leadership" seems to think we are all children who cannot be trusted to actually be working unless we are physically in an office. Spoiler alert: they actually got more work out of me when I was home than they do now.
Not being owned by a private equity firm pretty much says it all.
Clear direction and focus. Sense that teams working together to improve the products/services. Expansion of the offering and customer base, look at new technologies and approaches. Adoption of the best tools to improve productivity. Not cost cutting at every corner.
Involvement with the local community, charity events, sponsorships. Make a brand that people were happy to talk about.
Things I miss about Citrix:
- Leadership cared about employees (at least the ones I had)
- HR cared about employees and fully supported the Employee Resource Groups
- There was an optimistic, positive aura in the air. An energy that made you want to be a part of the organization and work hard.
Now, it’s depressing, everyone out for themselves, my leadership is so focused on saving their skin, they don’t seem to care about employees.
It is a sad place to work at.