A company as toxic as the beverages it makes - R&D Endless West Employee Review

Hi there, Thank you for taking the time to write a review. I’m personally committed to ensuring every person who walks through our door leaves better off professionally and ready to tackle their next adventure. So it’s hard to hear that someone has slipped through the cracks and didn’t have a great experience working with us. We can always do better, and I encourage my team to approach tough feedback like this with integrity. So, to you, former employee, I’m sorry we didn’t get it right. I promise we’re taking your feedback seriously as we think about how we can improve. Please do reach out to me directly if you would like to continue this conversation privately. I recognize that you’ve chosen a public forum to bring your concerns. So, for those of you reading this thinking about whether Endless West might be the right place in the next step of your professional journey, let me also publicly acknowledge some of those areas where we know we can do better, while also taking an opportunity to set the record straight. The suggestion that our products are toxic is incorrect. We’re transparent about what types of ingredients go into our products. Everything comes from plants and yeasts; nothing synthetic or animal-derived. Everything is extracted from natural sources and is fit for beverages. Every one of our formulas is screened by federal regulators before it hits the market. We’ve never had a food safety recall or claim. We’re proud of the products we make and how we make them. Promotions and compensation are an incredibly challenging balance to strike for a company of any size. Unfortunately, not every employee’s desired trajectory is aligned with the company’s growth. A department may be at capacity, meaning promotions will only be tied to turnover. An employee might want a lateral move to a different role, but not have the right experience for it so we need to find an external hire. And yes, sometimes people’s expectations for how quickly their salary can grow is not realistic, not commensurate with their performance, or simply not something we can afford even if we want to offer it. At the same time, we consistently reward star performers with career growth opportunities and financial incentives. We also care deeply about pay equity and ensure that our compensation programs are responsive to market rates for our sector and that we’re making cost-of-living adjustments at least annually. Yes, we’ve made resourcing mistakes in the past. Sometimes we under-commit to a project or team and pay the price in results, morale, or both. Other times, we over-commit to a project that doesn’t deliver results and we’re forced to pull back from other areas that are working. We encourage our teams to not take these things personally, but I understand that it’s hard to do that when you feel like you’ve drawn the short stick. I can’t commit to never making a resourcing mistake again. But I’m committed to transparency with our teams about why we’re making decisions and also supporting employee success even when they don’t receive the resources they’re hoping for. Family and health come first. Every member of my executive team knows that’s how they should be running their teams. We explicitly encourage employees to not come to the office when they’re sick (especially during a pandemic!), and to take time to tend to their loved ones and their mental health. Is Endless West the right place for you? Well, we’re not perfect. But I hope you’ll feel encouraged to reach out, talk to us, and find out for yourself. Alec Lee CEO, Endless West