Pros
I wanted to wait until I worked here for a good amount of time and had a chance to see any "dirty laundry" before I shared my thoughts on what it's really, really like to work here. No workplace is perfect, but out of all the workplaces I've been at...BetterUp is the one that checks all these boxes for me (in no particular order): 1. Supportive, emotionally-intelligent, high-performing people. There's no babysitting here. We trust each other to do high quality work, and understand that we are people before we're employees. I find myself constantly impressed by how multitalented people at BetterUp are. We have a culture of doing "inner work" or pursuing intentional rest, self-work, learning pursuits. And it shows. People here are seriously impressive, beyond the work we do 9-5. 2. Management that leads by example -- whether it's committing to promises, setting boundaries, or encouraging rest (we actually just had an All Hands meeting where our CEO talked to us about carving out intentional periods for rest and replenishment.) 3. Growth trajectory and long-term viability of the company. 4. A product that actually works, and a mission that's deeply impactful on a human level. It makes the work exciting, especially when you're given the flexibility to pursue projects based on your skills, growth areas and interests. 5. A culture of learning. Work to learn is a big principle of ours here. We don't fail here. We learn. 6. A sense of belonging. Not just from a DEI perspective (though we have had a really great framework around diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging since even before 2020 when companies started to get savvy to it). Care for each person is a value of ours, and as the team grows and the culture adapts to include more people, we haven't lost that sense of caring for each person. Not in a one-size-fits-all way, but in a way that's actually respectful and not just performative.
Cons
This is a high-growth startup environment so there must be cons, right? I get most frustrated by unrealistic deadlines (especially when they're deadlines we've set somewhat arbitrarily ourselves). So we rush to do it, then decide last minute that it can't be done (because we've run out of time) -- so, we extend the timeline and now have to re-do the work to make it better than the rush job we just did. And it makes me wonder why we couldn't have just set a more realistic deadline to begin with to avoid having to do a rushed patch job just to get it through the finish line, then move the finish line, and have to do even more work to correct the rush job? Though I do appreciate that sometimes timelines need to shift, and out of everywhere I've worked, BU has been the most "forgiving" and understanding when it comes to adjusting for our capabilities and bandwidth, so I think this is a double-edged sword because I don't want to stick to a deadline just for teh sake of it. I'd just like better planning up front to understand if a deadline is reasonable.