There are two opportunities for development at Health Catalyst:
Lack of People Manager Opportunities
Let me first say my experience may be an anomaly because for most people at Health Catalyst, there has been a sufficient amount of opportunities for them to be able to move into people manager positions. I don’t want to suggest this is how all of Health Catalyst is but when I joined Health Catalyst a number of years ago and I thought I would have the opportunity to achieve a goal of mine which is to be a people manager. Although the company has grown almost 10x the size of when I first joined, I have not had the opportunity to achieve that goal. Although my manager has been very supportive, the reality is that there doesn’t seem to be a place for me to get the experience I desire. When I asked about other ways to get the experience (such as managing an intern), there never seems to be budget. It’s frustrating to see others who have been with company much less time get the opportunity to manage others. How is one supposed to get people manager experience when there is never an opportunity to do so? There were a few people manager opportunities in other related departments but they were not opened to others outside the group. The opportunity was eventually given to someone already on the team. A few more people manager positions opened up later on and yet again it was only filled by people within the team. Once again, frustration set in. Not because I felt the people were not the right people for the jobs but because I didn’t get a chance to apply for any of the positions because they were not open to everyone. I don’t know if I would have been chosen for the position if I was able to apply for it. That’s not the point. The point is that there was not an opportunity for me to apply. It seems that people that are promoted in people manager positions have a greater chance for growth and are better positioned to be compensated more generously. Although individual contributors can get promoted, it seems they’ll never be as well compensated as people managers. I joined Health Catalyst with the hope of helping to build a team and gaining additional people manager experience, but it has not happened. It’s hard to know if it ever will. People might say that I haven’t done enough to be promoted to a people manager position. That’s really hard to say because I haven’t had the chance to apply for a people manager position. I try to stay positive but it’s tough to see others around you get the opportunity to expand their role into people manager positions. At times I wonder if the only way I’m going to be able to gain the experience that I want is to leave Health Catalyst. I don’t want to because I love Health Catalyst. It’s the best company I’ve ever worked for but the opportunity may never come for me if I stay. I’m torn.
Lack of People of Color in Leadership Positions
People of color at the people manager level and above is really lacking. We’ve made huge strides as a company at helping women “shatter the glass ceiling” in leadership roles but I don’t believe we’ve done a good job helping people of color do the same. It seems the diversity from a people of color perspective has come as a result of our acquisitions. That has been a positive thing. Why are there not more people of color in leadership positions? I don’t know. Is it because people of color are only found at the lower layers of the company and it is difficult to break through the leadership ranks? Maybe. Could it be because no one in a senior leadership position has taken the initiative to elevate the people of color around them? It’s possible. I’m not suggesting the people in position are not qualified to be in their roles. They are and are amazing. I support them 100%. It’s just hard to see how it will happen when it hasn’t happened so far.