...Disappointment is an understatement... - Anonymous employee Kinsa Employee Review

1. An overwhelming expectation to assimilate to a toxic culture. Asking if someone was a “culture fit” really meant “we expect this person to abandon any semblance of a work-life balance and any differences of opinion or communication style will not be tolerated or celebrated.” The CEO was not mindful of boundaries. You were expected to always be on call, regardless of the time of day, answering his texts and/or calls, and pledging your undying fealty to him. Anyone with a family - good luck with this dead end balancing act. 2. Lack of gratitude or recognition for getting sh*t done. My team constantly came to me with questions as to when or how they were going to get a raise, promotion, or a significant shout out from the exec team for performing and delivering on such rigorous objectives where the goal posts were always shifting and the time demands were unsustainable. Career laddering was (and to my knowledge, still is) non-existent at the company. Lateral moves and promotions did not exist, and if you advocated for either one of these for yourself then you expected, and were met with, significant pushback. Furthermore, they inexplicably restructured communication around employee departures which meant that hardly anyone received a warm send-off or farewell happy hour -- not even a simple thanks for your contribution to the company and wishing you the best on your future endeavors. This is How To Promote A Better Culture 101 that was completely ignored, and for a company with less than 100 employees this is inexcusable. 3. Inconsistent feedback dynamics. The CEO gave a training on how to deliver feedback on a company all hands that came off as: trust, respect and personal preference be damned, you should be willing to give and take harsh criticism at all times because it’s how you “grow” as an employee. I don’t speak for all managers during this time but I had to deal with some major angst and fallout after that in order to quell my team’s worries that the only time they should receive and give feedback was if it was highly negative. That eventually led to the lowest morale at any company I’ve ever worked at, and there was seemingly no desire to do anything about it. 4. Underpaid. It was taboo to advocate for pay raises, or more general transparency around salary bands, shares, etc., since you were told and expected to be at Kinsa “for the right reasons” (helping people stay healthy and not die from an infectious disease.) Heads up: wanting to do good in the world AND wanting to comfortably provide for yourself and your family are NOT mutually exclusive endeavors. 5. Poor benefits. The parental leave policy was laughable, especially for a company that espouses how they are committed to keeping families safe and healthy. Also, mental health initiatives, professional growth stipends, team bonding budgets, and other resources that so many other companies are implementing in order to navigate the WFH strain and to remain competitive in the job marketplace, were nonexistent.