GimmeMore Reviews

• Not a place where upper management welcomes, or understands, feedback that doesn’t align with their ideals/goals. This might be because there’s not much diversity in thinking in upper management. This is fine, of course. However, it could be frustrating for someone who has different ideas. • In a discussion with my team leader and her superior to promote better communication and positivity, I was told by the superior that if I presented the idea to the founders and said something that could be interpreted as a negative comment about the company, the idea would be shut down. I found this to be a particularly worrisome comment. This just highlights the fear and pushback against certain ideas, even if they are meant to promote positive change. • Instructions about tasks are unclear and constantly change. Examples: upper management delivers instructions that they then forget, products are made that are not used, agreed upon plans of action proposed by upper management are not followed through by upper management. • Lack of consistency. A general unawareness of the inability to create a base from which understanding can grow. No consistent and stable reference point in creating products. For example, though I learned how to interpret key KPIs, checking them daily using a content reporting tool and proactively asking questions to improve the products being made, feedback from marketing and product team colleagues often contradicted one another or changed frequently, causing much confusion and an unproductive work flow. • Not an ideal place for creative thinkers. Every step of every project was closely monitored and meticulous changes were asked by upper management and marketing teams. Unfortunately, the company’s business model changed drastically in the nearly two years I was an employee. Creativity, once championed and respected, has taken a back seat to the market and end result. There is no more room for out-of-the-box thinking. There is no risk-taking, and no real creative freedom. Upper management makes sure to insert itself in every step of the process. It can feel domineering, suppressing, and highly discouraging. • It can feel as though there is no trust placed in the work employees produce because most everything has to be reviewed by upper management. This process can take a lot of time and create a lot of confusion. • In my experience, pay was low, and pay rises (not including perks and bonuses) were rare. When discussions about salaries did arise, upper management said that we could return to the topic in “a few months” or “next time.” It is expected that employees constantly learn new skills (which should be expected in any company), but the pay should reflect this newly gained and implemented knowledge. Though I made sure to reach my targets and go beyond them, and strived always to complete my work with the core values in mind, I suppose my work was not seen as contributing enough to the company’s goals, though upper management never communicated this to me directly. I never missed a deadline, made countless last-minute changes requested from the marketing team nearly every day, and even helped train team members. I always tried to approach my work with a can-do and open attitude, even when the team underwent a drastic restructuring in my first six months, a restructuring that upper management was not transparent about and failed to communicate effectively, drastically lowering morale and sacrificing trust. Despite this, I continued producing high-quality content that I consistently optimized to meet the changing needs in the market and also helped other team members when needed . And when I asked my supervisor at my yearly review (December 2020) if she was happy with the work I was doing, she said that she was, and when I probed further to see if there was anything else that I could do in order to improve, she said that she was happy with my progress and couldn't think of anything that I needed to improve upon. • The company perks, bonus schemes, and yearly educational budget are wonderful and much appreciated by employees. However, the company falls into the line of thinking that many start-ups do, believing that employees should be greatly appreciative of these perks (which we are) and that these perks also justify why pay rises are not given regularly. Whether or not they realize it, upper management often causes employees to feel bad or guilty for seeking pay rises, often bringing up the perks. In fact, in my very first review talk, just before I wanted to bring up an increase in my salary, my supervisor’s superior mentioned that employees often ask for pay rises and don’t appreciate the perks that are offered to them. It may not have been intentional, but maybe she should not have said this during a review talk. • Feedback reviews can quickly get too personal, which can cause an uncomfortable working environment. It could be a great idea to have a neutral person, such as HR, involved in these meetings. • I was not sure why some people were involved in my review talks. My supervisor was present, as well as her superior, but I never worked directly with her superior. It was strange to receive feedback from her superior, since she made very little attempt to reach out to me and understand the work I was doing. How could she truly be aware of what I’d accomplished? Her lack of involvement in my day-to-day work was especially alarming (most prominently during lockdown, in which she made no attempt whatsoever to touch base with me) because she contributed to the discussion of my salary. It would have been beneficial to receive feedback from people that I worked with directly, especially during lockdown. I did not feel comfortable having someone who didn’t fully understand the work I’d done determining my wage, and I don’t think it was an appropriate decision. I did bring up this concern before my very first review talk. Because of the poorly communicated change in the team, my newly appointed supervisor (with whom I did not work very closely up until that point) was in charge of my review talk, along with her superior. I reached out to HR to ask if my last supervisor could be a part of the talk, since I had worked directly under her for five out of the six months of my probationary period. I thought it would make sense to have someone involved in the talk that could speak directly about the work I'd done. I was told that it was not possible. • Unfortunately, addressing concerns to upper management can sometimes result in negative feelings and no follow through. Upper management likes to believe that they are very transparent, and to a certain extent they are—but only with what aligns with their vision. They have a specific view and opinion of things and anything that veers away from these views and opinions is met with resistance. Their actions and words can be viewed as being defensive and employees can often feel intimidated bringing issues up since upper management hasn’t yet established a welcoming environment for the honest and open exchange of all ideas. Hopefully, this will be something that they work on in earnest soon. • Certain rules apply to some, but not to others. Might help to hold everyone to the same rules.