My manager at BetterUp was abusive, abrasive, and created a hostile work environment. He never hesitated to point out that I didn’t belong- constantly bringing up that I not only was the only woman on the project team, but that he also had friendships and relationships with other team members that he would never let me be a part of. Discriminatory and disrespectful remarks became a part of every 1:1. He told me on several occasions he did not want me to publicly contribute because he did not want to have to give me credit in what he believed should only be “his successes”. He did not respect any personal boundaries. When I had skip-level meetings or coffee chats with other co-workers, he would force me to tell him almost verbatim what we talked about, and never believed my descriptions (even when the conversations were casual and often not even about work). It was manipulative. I felt stuck, scared, and afraid to talk to anyone. I poured myself into the work but the daily abuse affected both my physical and mental health.
Unfortunately, his behavior was not only tolerated by the company, but it was also rewarded by leadership. In addition, there were no changes to ensure this never happens again: no changes to employee training, no changes to promotion-to-manager practices, nor an open discussion with me on how to rebuild safety. It was made clear to me that protecting his ego (and the team’s reputation) was more important than addressing the issues. I was silenced, and I was not the only one to be treated poorly. Apparently, it is easy for leadership to continue to sweep this inappropriate behavior under the rug.
I am extremely disappointed. I don’t think my experience represents everyone’s experience at BetterUp but I do wish my experience had been filled with the belonging, inclusion, and the compassion that I (and my work) deserved. Abuse of power is not acceptable anywhere - but it certainly is not okay in a supposedly forward-thinking workplace which claims to be dedicated to helping people. At the end of the day, BetterUp is an organization that simply does not uphold the values that they project out to the world. Despite having many opportunities to take corrective action, BetterUp demonstrated protecting employee belonging and safety is not important to them.
