Reviews are subjective to each person, and most of the positive reviews on here are probably genuine. At the same time, it's hard to ignore the strange nature of some of them:
“No cOns, hOwEVer, manAGeMenT aRe apPRoaChable ShoUld I neED to addReSs an iSsUe.”
“tHe fOoD is goOD, It’S haRd nOT to EaT toO MuCh ;)”
"KeEp up wITh the gReAt work you hAvE done tHroUghoUt the Years. Being traNsparent and honEst is always the best way to go. Unfortunately, not EvErYoNe can acCePt fEEbAck."
Real insight to vald's attitudes on staff can be gained through the history of the marketing team (shout out to LinkedIn for the numbers).
Vald’s marketing team has had a minimum of 47 employees over the last four years (including 4 different heads of marketing). What makes the number damning is that the team has never exceeded 10-12 members at any time and, of the 47, only 4-5 were part-timers.
There have never been any large-scale layoffs or redundancies, with each team member either having had enough and quitting or being fired unceremoniously. This trend has continued under each new head, with the current head of marketing having churned 11 staff, over a little more than 12 months. There is only one current member of the marketing team that has been at Vald for more than 18 months.
There are plenty of positive reviews here, but there are also those highlighting the toxicity that comes from the leadership team and many shortcomings of the business (lack of HR, cult of personality etc.). It’s not about whether it’s completely toxic or not at all, the mere numbers in staff churn (which can be observed via a simple LinkedIn search) across all departments, relative to vald’s short history, point to an unstable environment that can lead to potentially severe and unexpected consequences. Management are aware of this and have made it clear this is their intention by continuing to behave the way they do.
As mentioned in other reviews, there are those that management like and those they dislike, and unfortunately the reasons behind those assignments will rarely be professional, professional, logical or mature.
Some of the reviews emphasise sexism and misogyny, but there are clear cases of women improving their standing at Vald. Not long after joining vald's clinic, one of the young female exercise physiologists was quickly promoted to be the Group CEO’s executive assistant without any prior experience or expertise. By all accounts she’s the best he’s ever had, so how could that have happened under a cloud of misogyny? How can the CEO be racist when he hires POC and uses them for marketing collateral to showcase diversity?
If you are thinking about joining them, search for someone who has had a similar role there in the past and reach out, that way you can at least get it from the horse's mouth.
