8y
I want to thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. It disappoints me to hear your experience at Brooks has felt stagnant. This is not what I would want for you or any Brooks employee. Fortunately, the health of our business has created career growth opportunities at Brooks, and internal promotions have followed. Sometimes, however, an open role’s scope requires skills and experience found outside of Brooks. We’ve never been more intentional about frequently surfacing employees’ career development aspirations; our quarterly Sprint development discussions are one example. If these Sprints aren’t accomplishing what we’d hoped for you, I’d be interested to know your thoughts on how we can do better.
If there’s one thing I’m reminded of every day, it’s that we cannot over-communicate in business. Whether it's between departments or from VPs and directors to their teams, we can always do better. We’ve seen improved communication flow with increased rigor around meetings and reporting, as well as through the addition of communication-centric events such as department-led informational Happy Hours and Brookslandia learning hours. Our global intranet also houses a ton of great info. Make no mistake, communication can always get better, and I’m committed to doing exactly that.
Regarding pay, it's important to know we have a rigorous benchmarking process where we consistently align competitively within our industry. The other side of this coin, and as you mentioned, is our emphasis on employee experience with benefits such as our generous PTO and family leave policies, our flexible work environment, our prioritization of an active lifestyle in and out of work and our commitment to a healthy work-life balance. Ultimately, we hope current and future employees find value not only in their total comp package but also in the opportunity to build something meaningful—to inspire others to live healthier, more connected lives.
Finally, I personally don't believe we're settling for being behind the industry. This year our growth is outpacing the industry, which reflects more customers choosing Brooks. Many of the technologies and philosophies we've pioneered (e.g., FitStation, Run Signature, and our POVs on barefoot running and pronation) are widely regarded as industry-leading throughout the running community. In addition, our recent Cultural Strengths Survey shows our employees share a deep sense of pride around the products we build—it’s one of the highest scores we gave ourselves. All the same, I want to thank you again for sharing your feedback. If you ever want to discuss any of this further, please feel free to stop by my desk or send me an email.
Jim
