High Turnover, Constant Goalpost Shifting, and Weak Leadership
Pros
Some genuinely great coworkers • Product has potential
Cons
I worked at 1Life for less than a year and would not recommend it. The turnover alone should be a red flag. During my time there, multiple employees either quit or were terminated within a relatively short period. When that many people are leaving, leadership should be looking inward instead of blaming employees. The company constantly changes expectations, KPIs, compensation structures, and job responsibilities. What you're hired to do and what you're eventually expected to do can be two very different things. Goals and metrics shifted regularly, often without a clear explanation of how employees were expected to adapt or succeed under the new expectations. One of the biggest issues was sales leadership. There was a strong focus on micromanaging activity metrics, Teams statuses, and time away from desks, but very little hands-on coaching. Employees were expected to hit aggressive targets and perform demos at a high level, yet there was rarely an effort to demonstrate best practices by getting on calls and showing the team what success looked like in real-world situations. Sales meetings frequently centered around revenue targets and the need for growth, but there was little discussion around strategy, process, or execution. Conversations often focused on what numbers needed to be achieved rather than how the team was expected to achieve them. There was little transparency around what tools, methodologies, or initiatives leadership planned to implement to improve results. Instead of providing a clear roadmap for success, expectations were often increased while support remained limited. Another challenge was the disconnect between leadership messaging and practical execution. The CEO frequently spoke about self awareness, mindset, and asking yourself difficult questions. While those conversations may have had good intentions, they often replaced meaningful discussions about sales strategy, process improvement, market positioning, and execution. Employees were encouraged to look inward to find answers, but were rarely provided with concrete sales processes, proven methodologies, or actionable plans to improve performance. Too often, leadership discussions felt philosophical rather than practical. There was no shortage of conversations about what needed to be achieved, but far fewer about the specific tools, training, processes, and support required to achieve it. Teams need both inspiration and structure, but the structure was often missing. Rather than helping remove obstacles and develop employees, the culture often felt focused on monitoring activity and questioning performance metrics. It is difficult to improve when coaching consists primarily of criticism and oversight rather than mentorship, training, and support. Communication was inconsistent, expectations changed frequently, and accountability often seemed one-sided. Leadership appeared more reactive than proactive, with changes being implemented without sufficient planning, communication, or consideration for how they would affect the people expected to execute them. The most disappointing part was watching good people leave one after another. Many were talented sales professionals who simply became exhausted by the instability, constant changes, lack of support, and absence of meaningful leadership • Extremely high turnover • Constantly changing KPIs and expectations • Micromanagement culture • Poor communication from leadership • Lack of meaningful coaching and mentorship • Little stability or consistency • Frequent changes to roles and compensation structures • Lack of clear sales strategy and direction