Please hire a Chief People Officer! - Anonymous employee BetterUp Employee Review

1.0
Aug 17, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Individual contributors at the company are truly talented and enjoyable to collaborate with. The work makes a real difference in people's lives and is a source of fulfillment.

Cons

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.

Explore other reviews about BetterUp

5.0
Apr 10, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

High achieving (but friendly, collaborative) environment, great for driven professionals looking to uplevel their skills and career, flexible work schedule allows me to prioritize school pick ups and personal life, company wide summer and winter breaks every year plus "inner work" days off and volunteer days, career opportunities for advancement (at least in my dept.), You'll work with some of the most capable, driven, kind individuals. I've been here for 3+ years and have no intention to leave, I like the work I do and the team I work with.

Cons

High achieving, high performance culture isn't for everyone (clearly). If you're looking to coast, this is not the place for you. There are pockets in the org with bad managers or poor leaders, and I agree they should be weeded out ASAP because they're clearly bringing down the majority of the org which is filled with decent people who want to do the right thing and do good work. I wish they had a 401k match.

1
5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nearly 8 years in, and the work still pulls me forward. What keeps me at BetterUp is that the problems are genuinely hard and genuinely worth solving. I came from engineering, so I'm wired to care about infrastructure, not just features, and this is one of the rare places where you can build something foundational and actually see it move metrics, clear escalations, and unblock a whole go-to-market motion. The mission isn't decorative here. I can feel the thread between the work and the outcome. BetterUp also trusts you to figure things out across lanes. I've written SQL, prototyped with AI tools, facilitated workshops, and co-designed vendor strategy, all as a PM, because the culture doesn't penalize curiosity or reaching into adjacent territory. And honestly, some of my closest friendships came out of this place. The people I work with, on engineering, on cross-functional teams, and in peer mentorship, are people I genuinely learn from and, in some cases, people I can't imagine not having in my life. That combination of meaningful infrastructure work, real trust, and people who challenge you and become your people is not easy to find. The benefits span beyond general work-life-balance, if you're curious about something, there's always an open door to learn and contribute. As a woman in tech, I cherish the fact that our colleagues listen to women, and our insight is taken into account instead of just ignored. It's nice to feel safe at work, able to speak your mind freely.

Cons

If you want a boring job, this is not the place for you.

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