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Thanks for your candid feedback. While it is disappointing for us to hear your experience, it is only with feedback that we can improve. It is difficult to have an effective discussion on some of the issues you raise when we are not able to talk to you face-to-face, but we will try to address each of the points you have raised:
HR coaxing reviews: we don’t have a formal HR department but rather expect our managers to lead their teams. They do from time to time encourage team members to fill in reviews as we want everyone to know what it is like to work for Rokt before they join. We never try and influence anyone to write or say anything but rather, ask everyone to write honest reviews of their experience. We think it is better for everyone to have a clear idea what it is like to work for Rokt; this helps ensure alignment between what the individual and organization are looking for - which we think helps deliver a better outcome for everyone. Also if you look at the number of reviews vs the total size of the team at Rokt (~150) it is reasonable to say that a lot more than 10% are completing reviews.
Staff turnover: while our turnover is low by industry standards we also think it is healthy in a business growing as fast as Rokt, to have some turnover. Around two-thirds of our turnover is due to performance - while we spend a lot of time, energy and money in training and support we also recognize that some people find it hard to deliver at the level we want for our customers. We spend a lot of time getting our team right for fit - including the CEO interviewing every new hire - but sometimes we do see misalignment between our values. As a rapidly growing startup we believe we need to act and be comfortable that we won't always get it right. Calling this out early is best for Rokt and the person who is not a fit for our culture and/or the role.
Favoritism: we are a data led organization - it ties to our core belief about best practices in marketing and e-commerce and all our rewards and incentives are based on actual measurable outcomes. So it is disappointing to hear you experienced something other than this at Rokt. We try to ensure this doesn’t occur via twice-annual peer reviews of individual performance.his is a review of achievement against numeric KPIs and involves input from the leadership team on your broader potential and contribution, to ensure that development and performance feedback involves a range of inputs rather than a single manager. We take our company culture very seriously and believe it sets us apart from others. Hiring for cultural fit and ‘no ego’ is a key part of the process for every new role. We also carry out quarterly pulse surveys to ensure teams have a chance to anonymously comment on this, and results (which do not mirror your commentary) are directly incorporated into our People/HR project planning for the next period. The results of all surveys to date have been constructive and on the whole very positive. At times where we have seen lower than average results, such as on occasion in new offices where new systems and geographical isolation have created obvious challenges, we have focussed on improving these areas and have always seen a strong rebound in ratings as a result.
Party culture / high school atmosphere: Like any startup, we have had a fast-paced culture in our formative years as a company, as we strived to achieve the growth we have seen to date. End of quarter events are not about 'parties' - we spend up to a week in training, listening to industry leaders, our peers cross function, inspiring speakers, and most importantly, our clients - in order to learn what to take back into the business to improve what we do, and equip each individual with the skills necessary to be their best. We also like to have fun, celebrate success, and get to know each other in a social environment - but we love learning just as much - they're certainly not incompatible!
Values: Our values are something we do not shy away from or apologize for - we believe they are part of our DNA. Our values are:
Smart with humility
Conquer new frontiers
Customer obsessed
Enjoy the ride
Please feel free to reach out to anyone in the leadership team if you wish to have a more direct and confidential discussion to contribute to the ongoing work we are doing in these areas, and to ensure you feel valued. It is our goal to have a whole team of Roktstars who enjoy coming to work everyday.
Based on the spelling of your post it looks you are in the US. Also you say you worked for Rokt for three years however we have only had three employees in the US at Rokt for three or more years and they are all still working at Rokt. So we have some concern this post is not from a real ex-Roktstar.
