BetterUp reviews

There are too many to name. Micromanagement. Managers gaslighting you is a real thing here. Getting shamed for speaking up or asking valid questions (even in a proactive, kind way). Told to get over stuff or that stuff is your fault Leaders change directions constantly. There is a revolving door unless you happen to be in the “protected” OG class. Another thing that’ll get you protected is never, ever disagreeing and bowing down to leadership: Leaders can and will use anything they *think* they understood against you or as a scape goat. Leaders are very focused on above them only (vs their teams) as part of the culture created here. Layoffs occurred, then not even 2 months later same positions of layoffs were reposted. This poor planning happens constantly. While some coworkers are the brightest people you’ll ever meet, others can and will “play the games” and politics in order to further careers, which in turn further destroys morale. This is a very, very toxic place to work. It’s quite sad given some of the talent within. Working here is like being in a SUPER toxic relationship with a narcissist that gaslights you but you are financially dependent on them, so they abuse you knowing you’re dependent on them.

BetterUp is really struggling at its current stage to operate at the level of maturity that is expected as table stakes for a company with its valuation, size, and market presence. The most glaring maturity gap is the disregard for people management / talent strategy. During a recent multi-hour all hands call, the team spent a fraction of the time (I believe it was less than 2 minutes) on the organization’s people strategy. By all measures, the Founders continue to maintain a tight scrutiny on all people processes. Despite having more than 500 employees, it doesn't appear that the organization has a well-defined compensation review process for all employees. The organization attracted great talent over the past few years, but I suspect it will be challenging to retain that talent as the growth trajectory changes and the business becomes older/more mature. It’s a bit surprising that the Board hasn’t applied more pressure on the team to bring in a Chief People Officer in light of internal feedback from pulse surveys, previous Glassdoor reviews, and the drop from 4.5 -> 3.4 Glassdoor rating in the past year and a half. I could touch on the other themes that often come up in these reviews - the gaslighting, lack of investment in ongoing manager training/enablement, the tendency of CEO in-group associates to fail upwards - but I would just urge the organization to prioritize bringing in an established, seasoned CPO who can stop the frantic duct-taping of BetterUp’s people strategy and rebuild trust and confidence that the organization will do the right thing by its people.