Where to begin?
-Leadership will tell you that they are working hard to improve Diversity and Inclusion at Keeper. They will blame the lack of diverse talent on the hiring market, however, it's just not the case. This fake 'woke' company will change it's profile image to a rainbow during pride month and make slack channels for "women in tech", however, I cannot emphasize enough how much of a white, masculine dominated culture is facilitated (and celebrated) at this company - especially in the sales department. Sales felt like a fraternity that I didn't sign up for. Meetings often started with a chorus of "what's up brother?", "how's it going my man?", etc with little acknowledgement of the women present. The women of color that were once a part of the sales floor are almost all but gone now, no doubt to the lack of inclusion and feelings of ostracization. Again, I'm sure there will be a response to this review pointing out that they have a handful of diverse employees and saying that this isn't the case, which brings me to my next point.
-Leadership will lie to you and talk about employees behind their back. I was often given "confidential, insider knowledge" (aka gossip) from front line leaders about people below them. Being in the room when this type of conversation is happening has a dangerous way of making you feel superior, however, it just made me wonder what was being said about me when I wasn't present.
-Employees are shamed for taking care of themselves. If you prioritize your mental and emotional health, this is not the company for you. Time off isn't terrible, you get around 15 days of PTO a year with no distinction for sick days. I don't, however, think it's too millenial of me to say that, from a tech company that boasts it's financial success and has the means to support its employees, this is an antiquated way of structuring PTO. I believe that this structure is in place because leadership does not believe in taking personal time away from work. We were often told that, if we were to take a vacation, we should still bring our laptops because "sales never sleeps". If you don't respond to an "urgent" message from the CEO or CRO before or after working hours, you're bound to be humiliated for doing so. When employees struggle with this type of work/life imbalance, they're told that a "fast paced environment isn't for everyone". I can assure you that my new position is more complex, face paced, and challenging than my role at Keeper was, but I find it incredibly enjoyable because I'm supported in a way I hadn't been before.
-The company did not prolong WFH abilities once vaccinations became available, again most likely due to the fact that Leadership does not trust it's employees to just do their work and balance their home life. To my knowledge (I left before this was implemented) there is still a hybrid schedule - but employees do not have a choice in the matter of whether or not working from the office is best for them. While working from home during the pandemic, I sat on many hour long meetings where employees were reprimanded for not wearing a tie or a sport coat while on calls, even though the dress code in the employee handbook is marked as "casual". I even sat in on meetings where parents who had children at home, struggling with the balance of trying to essentially home school their kids during a pandemic, were shamed for sometimes having to tend to their kids' needs. This baffled me, because as much as leadership wanted it's employees to not take care of their kids during work hours, they offer no type of supportive benefits for parents or families, including maternity/paternity leave.
-Leadership has a nickname for the sales floor - the Navy Seals. I think the only thing more toxically masculine than the all too common practice of using sports metaphors when speaking about a sales team would be Keeper's use of military metaphors. Leadership does not realize that a white collar SaaS sales job is not life or death. We do not want to sit and watch a Ted Talk about a marine who lost friends to a violent war, and then compare his message to how we can increase sales. It is offensive, toxic, and ineffective.
-I'm sure I'm missing so many more intricacies, but I'll end with this. Leadership is punitive, patronizing, and disrespectful to their employees. They are very very talented at acting charismatic, charming, caring, and progressive. Give it a very small amount of time, and they will reveal their true colors.
