Dismissive Leadership, Homogenous Culture -- Think Twice
Pros
The two people on my direct team (my manager as well as my role counterpart) were awesome people; respites from the truly toxic culture at OpenGov.
Cons
As someone who recently left Opengov after a mere 9 months (a trend that is sadly becoming all too common at OpenGov due to leadership's inability to retain employees for more than a year), I feel a responsibility to share my experience. My time there was marred by serious cultural and structural issues, which should give any potential employee pause before signing on. It's crucial to consider all the information before committing yourself to OpenGov's tumultuous working environment. Workplace Culture and Inclusion - As a person of color, I felt marginalized and isolated in the overwhelmingly homogeneous office environment. In one instance, after raising concerns about feeling disconnected from the team, I was relocated to a secluded area of the office with the only other person of color on my team, only to be moved back to a visible place in the office when a manager raised concerns about the optics to leadership. - There's a concerning lack of diversity at Opengov, with 70% of employees being white and 61% being male according to data accessible via Glassdoor (though I suspect the true numbers are even more imbalanced). Even more concerning is the fact that there seems to be no recognition or effort to address this issue. When I asked about DEI initiatives during my interview, the CHRO bluntly stated that none existed. This is unacceptable and needs to be addressed immediately for the sake of creating an inclusive and diverse workplace for all employees. Management Practices - It was disheartening to experience a pattern of blatant hypocrisy from upper management. Leadership pushes for a strict return to office policy, but many of them are conveniently located away from San Francisco or other main offices, instead working remotely. Leadership’s lack of consideration and disregard for the well-being of employees (while prioritizing their own) speaks volumes about the company's actual values and priorities. - I experienced three manager changes in nine months, causing major disruptions and highlighting a lack of stability within the organization. This disarray was not isolated, and was negatively impactful to employee morale - There was a concerning instance when one of my teammates, who was working hard as an individual contributor, was suddenly thrust into a managerial role without any prior communication or input. They were blindsided and had to learn about their new responsibilities during a team meeting, at the same time as everyone else. This lack of consideration and disregard for their professional development was unacceptable from my perspective, but Opengov from my experience was never a workplace that prided itself on collaboration and mutual support. It was disheartening to see such careless actions from management, and greatly impacted team morale - Leadership's response to employee concerns was often openly dismissive. In a team meeting, I observed leadership explicitly dismiss negative criticism around Glassdoor reviews, stating that "if people leave [voluntarily] they're probably not the A-players … it's probably not regrettable", blatantly implying that negative feedback wasn't valid. Furthermore, we were often asked to write positive Glassdoor reviews, with leadership stating “if Glassdoor is a deterrent we should try to level the playing field” and noting that they “think many reviews are AI generated”. From these statement, it was pretty clear that leadership had no concern or respect for the employee perspective at Opengov. Professional Development and Support - I frequently expressed concerns about unprofessional and hostile behavior among certain individuals, but my concerns were often dismissed with phrases like "that's just their personality" or "you need to toughen up". Even my favorite people at the company would parrot these lines back to me, illustrating the fact that this tolerance of bad actors was a truly ingrained company value. It was disheartening to see a lack of accountability and unwillingness to address the root issues, which created a toxic work environment. I want to be clear: while this was my personal experience, these issues appeared systemic, ingrained within the company culture, rather than isolated incidents. We all deserve a supportive and nurturing work environment where our hard work is recognized and our potential for growth is nurtured. Opengov drastically falls short of providing that, and it breaks my heart to see such a lack of consideration for their employees' well-being and professional development.
