The Singapore-based global head of digital marketing at Standard Chartered Bank, Damien Cummings, has left the bank in acrimony after accusing the company of breaking promises and of making poor decisions.
Cummings joined SCB in mid-2015 but his role has been made redundant “after a less than awesome time”. Now, He has launched a HR tech start-up called Peoplewave.
Writing on LinkedIn, Cummings, the former Singapore-based regional chief marketer of Philips, said it “isn’t one of those happy “I had an amazing time at my last employer” blog posts”.
He went on to admit 2016 “ended poorly” before taking a parting shot at Standard Chartered.
Cummings said he only joined a bank – something “I promised myself I would never do” – because of what he described as “seemingly too-good-to-be-true-promises” given to him during the interview process.
“These promises turned out, surprisingly, to be too-good-to-be-true,” he said. “So in January my role was made redundant (again!). The wonderful tip of the hat to a less than awesome time at Standard Chartered Bank.”
Cummings conceded there were high points during his time at SCB, having been recognised in November as a “Global top 50 digital marketing leader” as well as receiving external awards, including digital marketer of the year.
“[But] it just wasn’t enough to turn the tide of cost cutting and less than stellar management decisions in an industry facing oblivion in the face of changing consumer needs and digital disruption,” he said.
“So, with that off my chest it’s time for a new beginning. The job layoff is only fuel for a new fire that has been lit inside me. I made the decision, based on it being now or never, to jump into my own business.”
Standard Chartered Bank declined to comment other than to confirm Cummings departure.
His new venture, Peoplewave, “is about changing things and making the world better”, the marketer said. “Helping people in the workforce overcome incompetent managers and apathetic HR teams.
“I’m on day one of a new adventure – to reinvent HR and people management in the workforce through data-driven transparency and a new way of hiring, managing and engaging employees. HR has been ripe for disruption for a while. My new business, Peoplewave, is that catalyst.”
