Like a baby with a birth defect in the olden days, management will turn their backs and leave you in the woods to die. God forbid you have a personal issue come up that affects your performance because money is far more important to this company than the lives of their employees. I confided in my manager about said personal issue, only to be snitched on to HR. After just 4 months of employment, not nearly enough time to learn the suite of products, nor the industry, not our internal process, I was put PIP when Mark Mader, the CEO, publicly said on CNN that ramp up for Enterprise AE's is taking 5-6 months. After putting me on this PIP, and despite my ongoing struggles, the company has shown zero compassion and has made it nearly impossible to get on the disability that my psychiatrist and counselor agree my condition warrants. It's been two months without resolution, or a simple message from my manager checking in during this time where I need support. What's more, the goals of the PIP are completely unattainable and speak volumes about their true intentions. They're trying to get me to quit or allow myself to get fired. I'm an experienced, successful salesman who got hired here for a reason. Putting me on this unreasonable PIP is a way for my manager and the company to save face.
Also noteworthy, the company has been around for 15+ years and still isn't profitable. That's either an indication of incompetence, or they think this is still the silicon valley tech bubble from the 90's, which is also incompetence. The company hired about 1,000 new people in the face of an economic downturn, and despite their claims of holding on to their massive office space, they're now selling off half of it. Their stock has gone down over 40% since I started in March. A lack of foresight is likely contributing to the treatment they're subjecting me to, cutting off the dead limb to save their P&L's and keep their investors happy. During this time of upheaval, the sales teams, from SDR to Enterprise, are all struggling with a lack of support, disorganization related to those in other departments who are required in the sales process (i.e. procurement, customer success, sales engineering, etc.) and are simply spread too thin. Processes go slow, customers, potential customers and channel partners become frustrated, and you as the rep get all the heat from both sides. I joined Smartsheet in part to be somewhere with more structure and organization that previous companies, and here is no better. It's actually worse in some ways. And it's a public company.
Those in my role who have been at the company for years, and were promoted internally due to their performance are struggling, yet a new hire who isn't performing after 4 months, due to serious depression, is put on an unattainable PIP. Despite my condition, they have shown ZERO remorse, compassion or support. I've been tarred and feathered and am being chased out of town with pitchforks, being treated as sub-human, all because my condition made me dead weight. I hope any of you considering working here take this into consideration.
The positive reviews you're reading, which I believed myself, were either written prior to this disastrous fiscal year, were written and encouraged to be written by management, and/or indicate the nepotism that is rife within the organization, where some are very happy, and most others are scraping by. Karma is you-know-what and those who have perpetrated these circumstances are in line for a heavy dose. I take accountability for my share of this ordeal, which has not been reciprocated. It's inexcusable and disgusting. Don't let them lure you in with a fat paycheck and a ton of RSUs. Your happiness is far more important and that's not something they care about. You are a money-making machine, that's it.
