Bentley is a very troubled company. Of course, they are a privately held, family-run business with 4 brothers as the top execs, so some screwiness can be expected. Organic growth is minimal, with non-stop acquisitions relied on as the growth strategy.
Dysfunctional culture:
Bentley is a very stagnant, insular organization, dismissive towards customers and openly hostile to new thinking or different approaches.
Lots of older lifers, trying to hang on until retirement.
Extreme lack of candor and transparency from management and among teams.
Lack of clear direction about the declining state of the business, talent, and culture.
Anyone with competitive job options will bail on this company quickly, once they realize how screwed up it is.
Non-Customer Centric Approach:
The stance towards customers was often derisive and dismissive. The topic of how a customer would solve a problem or what to do if they were unhappy was often dismissed in conversations, particularly by managers.
A commonly heard phrase was “where else can they go?”
Bentley customers have difficulty switching vendors and with limited competitive alternatives. Many are basically stuck with Bentley, unfortunately. Over time, this has allowed Bentley’s management and customer facing teams to get lazy and stupid.
In the hands of a competent management team with a modern approach, Bentley could be a force to be reckoned with, but that is not on the table. It’s a shame.
Culture of Secrecy:
Management keeps employees in the dark about basically everything: the state of the business, decision-making, and overall performance of the company. Bentley has a very “cliquey” feel to it, meaning that if you have been there for a long time and are considered “loyal” by management, your actual job performance doesn’t really matter. You can fail in your job as a manager and be moved around laterally and that is considered normal. If you a more recent hire and not on board with the way things are, you have a target on your back.
Put very simply, Bentley is not a meritocracy. Your success depends not on how well you perform in your role, but how well you can ingratiate yourself with an entrenched, insecure management layer.
Outdated business systems and dysfunctional practices:
Bentley uses a CRM made by SAP called Cloud for Sales. The tool is barely usable and is a major handicap for the entire sales organization. Interacting with basic customer information is extremely difficult and managing an opportunity requires several people to get involved simply because it is so hard to use.
A lot of internal teams (sales, professional services, sales ops, finance, legal, etc.) are in conflict, constantly blaming each other for their collective shortcomings. Most sales reps spend the majority of their time just trying to resolve internal problems, find information that no one seems to have, or get unresponsive colleagues to help them do their jobs. The negative impact on the business and lack of leadership to resolve this internal squabbling is astounding.
Compensation plans are deliberately opaque and confusing. The comp plan and commission structure is so difficult to understand that no one actually knows how much they will be paid. Some reps end up actually owing money because the way cloud deals are structured. There seems to be an unofficial policy of reducing variable compensation to salespeople as much as possible without stating it outright.
Best practices elsewhere, like regular team calls with sales leadership to get an update, review issues, or celebrate successes are non-existent. All-hands meetings with C-level executives, or regular updates from marketing, product, or strategy only occur 1-2 times per year and it is all fluff.
Employees are updated on major changes or announcements via email only. The senior management team seems unwilling or unable to engage in direct open dialogue with employees.
At the team level, you will never be informed by your manager about what your status is or where you stand. Regular performance reviews and feedback do not take place.
Employee Benefits:
High deductible-only health insurance policies from a single health insurance provider.
No parental leave policy
Outlook:
There is talk of a Siemens acquisition or some other type of event. An IPO is off the table because business growth is too slow, the ability to execute predictably is questionable, and the Bentley family likes being in control.
Another interesting and overlooked scenario is private equity. A PE firm would have a field day with Bentley, considering the operational inefficiency, management deadwood, and strong underlying business assets.
