Pros
The people are the best part of working at Extra Space. For the most part my coworkers were some of the best people I have known. Many were humble, kind, selfless. Extra Space does a lot of bragging about how long people tend to work at Extra Space and to an extent they are right. People work there for a long time, but it isn't necessarily because of Extra Space being the best place to work, it is because it is a tolerable atmosphere where people can focus on their family. One thing Extra Space does very well is Work Life balance. These humble people are exactly the type of people that Extra Space likes to employ. People who are humble and sometimes insecure, whose focus is on their family and not on the fact that they could be paid more somewhere else. They are just grateful to have a job. These individuals make great coworkers but can be easily taken advantage of by the company. They do a good job of promoting internally, which creates great opportunity for people who work at Extra Space, though they do this in part because they are not willing to pay the price for outside talent. They have great corporate values. Unfortunately this is overshadowed by the fact that their philosophy and the way they behave are very different. Most of the time the behavior doesn't align with the philosophy. There are a lot of people at Extra Space with good ideas, but the execution isn't great.
Cons
The disconnect between managers and their employees is palpable. Software Development Management is involved too much in direction and not enough in managing/coaching employees. They want to be "decision makers" not leaders and managers. Mentorship will have to be found in coworkers, who may not have the time to help as it is not a part of their job description to do so. This is another example of where philosophy splits from behavior. They say they want you to help your team, they say they "Experts Help". Sometimes even when people take the time away from their own tasks to help, they are met by criticism that they aren't doing enough in their own jobs. These metrics that they are measured by are also not very nuanced. You are compared to your peers by number of tasks completed. So remember that task you helped your teammate complete? It didn't really matter in the long run, because he got the credit for it and it was used against you. Your coworkers perception of you is not taken into account in this judgement. So it can feel like you are just a number, not a valued employee. The company is a little too investor friendly in my opinion, meaning they are cheap. Obliviously this affects employee compensation. Their compensation philosophy is to pay people as close to, or below average if they can. They will label this as "Competitive". Their definition of competition is a little funny, because usually you want to be the best, not just in the middle of the pack. You will likely be under paid. "Work/Life balance" is part of your compensation package.