Sometimes data leads to interesting insights, and we wanted to get our heads around this one quite a bit. Experteer analytics data suggests that the Zalando top talent management churn seems to be much higher than the ‘Internet’ industry level in Deutschland. Here are some rather stark data points we discovered:
- 1 in every 4 senior professionals in Zalando are actually ‘actively looking’ for other positions.
- The average time span for a job change for senior professionals in Zalando is less than a year, compared to over 2 years in the industry
Recent mentions of Rocket’s IPO (expected to be over USD 3 billion led to a flurry of pride shares on Facebook (and whatever little Twitter voice gets in Germany).
Zalando features as one of the flagship launches of Rocket Internet (and since then Zalando has made a ‘selective/partial exit from the Rocket group‘) and cozily belongs to the billion dollar startup club amidst other fancy start-ups and the best in Europe in fact, in terms of funding secured.
While the company still remains unprofitable, recent reports have indicated massive growth. Zalando is present in 14 European markets, and has had a 50% revenue growth reaching Euro 1.8 Billion in 2013. Needless to say, this does represent a very aggressive growth story.
Why would a company like this have its senior professionals changing jobs so often and not want to grow with it? And does this represent an image issue that Zalando might want to dwell on before it gets all public on the world stage?
We decided to look up Kununu for reviews. And not contradictory to what our data pointed out there did seem to be a problem. The sample size is 272, which was quite a lot compared to reviews for other companies on the platform. The overall rating was 2.68 out of 5. And while in itself the numbers do say something, the comments were even more telling.
According to an ex-employee, one of the negatives has been the ‘miese ex und hopp mentalität bei der personalführung’ which really talks about the company culture being rather low on empathy with a tough ‘hire and fire culture’. This isn’t really the most common German workplace tradition, and perhaps that makes the comments worse.
There’s also talk of poor work-life balance. We spoke to a few people who indicated that being an aggressive start-up this is something that the people clearly know. Many professionals in Rocket Internet – and thus Zalando, that was set up by Rocket, tend to come from consulting backgrounds and long hours are not something they are not exposed to.
Another rather pointed criticism came from the experiences with leadership within Zalando. One ex-employee mentions in great details that, the leadership quality itself is rather poor and is often driven by creating a fear based atmosphere as opposed to garnering real respect.
It further goes to explain that the development opportunities and vision for growth within the company are not clear. Increase in transparency in the work culture and thinking through more sustainable work practices are the two things that are listed out as opportunities for Zalando to work on.
All is not really bleak, there is an understanding in the Online world that Zalando does represent a great brand on your ‘cv’ and being an aggressive start-up, the learnings are plenty and intense. I did this quick social media poll to ask people if they would work in Zalando despite what the Internet says, the answers were more positive and people did see the benefits of a brand like that.
However, in view of the fact that the IPO may come soon or generally to have a better image with the investors, no firm can afford to sit back on such teeming cultural issues. And having said that, Rocket’s own Kununu reviews are in fact far better – in people’s minds though Zalando is still connected heavily to Rocket.
There’s definitely a need to address concerns and clear out the air! After all, just how does on plan sustainable growth if the senior management keeps wanting to change jobs? And there is data to back this claim too. If research is to be believed, PWC which interviewed several hundred CEOs on innovation recently, showed that 57% CEOs feel that the ‘right culture’ to foster support and innovation is one of the most important ingredients for innovation in firms. Doesn’t sound unreasonable, here’s hoping Zalando has all its social listening working!
Note: This story was updated to show that Zalando is now listed as a ‘selective/ partial exit’ company of Rocket Internet and not a direct child company, although Zalando is still seen as the biggest Rocket venture in public eye.
