Pros
• Awesome PTO plan and your birthday off. • Flexible hours (depending on your department. Some departments have to have a more set schedule due to customer needs.) • Tight-knit running community. It’s possible to find a running buddy who shares similar splits/running style. • Opportunity to run during work. • Product discounts. • Wonderful customer service department. They are truly experts in the product and are the hardest working department within the company. • Good IT support- you have people who jump on technical issues to help you get your laptop up and running again. • Opportunities to meet as a company twice per year. Usually at a fun location. • They still do a holiday party. Has been at some fancy places over the years. A good excuse to get dressed up and party with your work friends. • Company has a good social media presence. Customer service works hard to leverage social for customer service purposes. • Company runs. More opportunities to run on the company dime. • Some teams are very close and do things outside of work together.
Cons
• Salaries seem significantly below market. Seems worth it in exchange for working in outdoor/active industry and the culture, but the culture isn’t that great, so it just feels unfair. Looking at a multiple year career there, salary growth is minimal compared to other companies. • Many leaders work far less than a 40 hour work week and that leaves direct reports wondering what their boss actually does. • “College-like” atmosphere. It is easy to feel “old” or like you don’t fit in if you don’t buy in to the frat boy mentality. Not a very inclusive environment. It is a popularity contest and qualified people are regularly passed over for promotions because someone else is in better with the boss. • The best employees are leaving because they aren’t finding career advancement. Managers aren’t willing to invest in training employees. • Limited budget for external training. • Bonuses are a thing of the past. Promotions are hard to come by, so limited opportunity for salary growth. • Executives talk about transparency, but company is shrouded in secrecy. • Many people are promoted in to leadership roles who don’t have the experience to back it up or the aptitude to be successful. Lower level employees work hard to make their bosses look good, and recognition is non-existent.