Pros
- Some smart, hardworking, and kind coworkers - While most companies have required 4 days in office, Altruist requires just 3. They also let employees work anywhere four weeks a year. - The facilities team goes out of there way to create a nice work environment, including making plans for social activities on a weekly basis - While the health insurance policy leaves plenty to be desired, the salary bands are above market
Cons
- I have witnessed a culture of open infighting and frequent finger-pointing. The lack of ability or desire from management to squash personal conflicts is incredible. - Another part of the culture is to participate in groupthink, in which the moral value of the company mission is grossly overestimated. This provides cover for leadership to encourage poor work life balance. For example, the CEO once declared that he liked when a message he sent after 11pm was immediately replied to. He has also said quote "we have to win". It's baffling how someone could frame building wealth management software as a moral imperative. - Total lack of credibility with the executive leadership team. Words that come out of their mouth are subject to become null and void within 6 months or sooner. This is reflected in the RTO plan. In addition, multiple times the CEO has claimed "this is the last big play", only to sign up the organization for another massive project, while teams struggle to keep the lights on. - Zero standard for performance management. There was no annual review process for the 2024 year. Without any standard to abide by, it is significantly more important to construct a narrative of performance than it is to actually produce anything. Even more so with new use of an AI based performance measurement vendor called Jellyfish - No skip-level meetings. If you have a problem with your manager, you are on your own. - Internal churn is high, and heavily self-imposed to quote "raise the bar", despite managements struggle to assess performance in the first place. I had a constant revolving door of teammates and leaders, all the way up the chain of command. - Every other all-hands meeting the CEO says something regrettable. Sometimes it is so bad that he has to issue an apology later. These speeches aside, his voice is most often heard on LinkedIn, making self-aggrandizing posts, and on Slack, posting snide remarks about the company's competitors.
