Decent place to work - Recensione dipendente - Customer Success Manager (CSM) presso Formative

For starters, the people are amazing. It's an environment that is welcoming to people from all walks of life with a lot of teachers who have transitioned to ed-tech. Next, it offers an incredibly flexible work environment for working parents. It's a wonderful thing to be able to work from home and then to also be granted flexibility for field trips, child wellness visits, etc etc. I can prioritize my family when I need to without fear of retribution and I'm so grateful for that. Competitive pay and unlimited time off is another pro for me. I am paid fairly for my field and don't have to worry about sticking to only 2 weeks of vacation like other employers I've worked with. Last, the leadership are so accessible in comparison to my previous jobs. The founders are willing to take a call with any employees, even someone lower in the org chart like me. It's meaningful to know they care about our opinions and concerns.

During busier times, it can feel like a lot of meetings, but they have tried to minimize this by setting low-meeting Fridays which is nice. Start-ups in general have a culture of change and finding consistency takes time. Some departments have found this easier than others, but changes are clearly communicated when they happen, which is appreciated.

If you are a former teacher, this is a product you can really get behind and support. Great schedule for work-life balance. Good pay.

Concerns are not addressed by management. People are consistently set up to fail. An inner circle of leaders makes all the decisions without any prior experience in business, leading to many poor decisions and treatment of company members. The board is a group of 4-5 people, and two of the members include the two cofounders/CEOs, which is self-serving. I do not trust the second one to be fair, equitable, or ethical at all. (Gave a neutral on CEO rating because the other CEO, though not great at business practices, is a great person to work with.) Managers have lied to their teams and do not appreciate "outsider" (aka anyone not in the inner circle) insight. Recent acquisition by Newsela is great for this inner circle but not for the employees. Several other comments have also talked about the lack of diversity at the top level and the way they treat black/brown people. This is my experience as well. They are supportive of LGBTQIA+ but are blind to the way they treat other groups of people.