Great people, great work, awful management - UI Engineer Sprung Studios Employee Review

Thank you for your detailed review of your experience at our company. We appreciate your honesty and the time you've taken to share both positive and negative aspects of your time with us. We take all feedback seriously and would like to discuss your points. Regarding the concerns you've raised regarding Sprung Studios' management style and leadership, the role of leadership is to set the standards, provide clear direction to our employees, and ensure that expectations and support are given to ensure we're fostering a positive and collaborative environment. At Sprung Studios, we select our managers based on their leadership skills and ability to support their teams and company goals. The suggestion that Sprung Studios chooses our managers based on anything other than their skillset and ability does not reflect our best practice approach to equal employment hiring practices. The comments around micro-management and finding every mistake are essential to note. In our fast-paced client-facing Production/co-development environment, tasks are planned and tracked to a half-day granularity. Our Producers directly surface this information to the teams we work with. Keeping track of what is intended is a crucial part of AAA game development at this scale. To maintain progress and, more importantly, quality - deviations or errors introduced while executing these tasks must always be addressed and subsequently corrected. Sprung Studios supports continuous feedback. We strive for transparency and value honest input from all team members. Our commitment to this is reflected in several key practices: - Regular 1:1 Meetings: We encourage frequent one-on-one discussions between employees and their managers to provide a safe space for open dialogue and feedback. - Mid-Year Check-ins: We structure discussions with employees and HR every six months to open a dialogue for feedback and continuous improvement at the studio. - Annual Reviews: We implement a structured goal-setting process where employees can voice their aspirations and concerns, ensuring alignment between individual and company objectives. - Open Door Policy: Our leadership team maintains an open door policy, inviting employees to discuss any issues or ideas directly with management. Our progression and promotion structure is designed to support employee growth and development. Each department has its own evaluating structure that allows for specialized feedback and supports progression through its tailored approach to individual employee's goal-setting and career development. The managers play an important role in this process, overseeing their teams' skills by providing support and mentorship, offering regular feedback, and tracking progress. This process ensures that we create clear career paths for all employees and their progression. We're committed to fair treatment, diversity, and inclusion as an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Our HR team is trained in empathetic communication and operates under established policies. While the HR department has the authority to make decisions, it does not operate unchecked. It is accountable to Company Leadership and must adhere to company policies, legal requirements, and HR governing guidelines to support its best-practice approach. While we value employee retention, we understand that career paths may diverge. We focus on creating a positive work environment with work-life balance, engaging projects, and loyalty perks for tenured employees. In response to ‘Advice to Management’: Feedback Culture: We acknowledge your concerns about our approach to feedback. However, we value and uphold that our organization champions an open feedback environment where all input is valued and acted upon. Accountability: We agree that admitting mistakes and learning from them is crucial for employee and manager growth. We foster a culture where transparency and accountability are prioritized at all levels. Valuing Employees: We agree that our people are our greatest asset. We're committed to creating an environment where all employees feel valued and have opportunities for growth and development. Employee Satisfaction: We appreciate your suggestions about small gestures (like the WFH day example). However, our policies around WFH are in place to ensure we're making decisions that are fair and aligned with the guidelines. Management Training: Your suggestion for external management training is already a part of our structure, and we will continue to implement comprehensive training programs for all levels of management. Workplace Culture: We understand the importance of fostering a positive, honest work environment, which is our philosophy. Mental Health Awareness: Our HR is trained to handle employees' private health information with a best-practice approach. They take the utmost care to provide a psychologically safe workspace that allows employees to feel supported and protected by their confidential information. Exit Interviews: We value the feedback from departing employees and will ensure that exit interviews are offered and conducted professionally for all leaving staff who follow the guidelines and procedures. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these points further. Please contact us at hr@sprungstudios.com if you'd like to discuss your review in further detail. Thank you again for your feedback, and know that Sprung Studios is dedicated to making our company a better place to work for everyone.