The HEART is Fading - Still Some Great People, But Leadership Has Lost Its Way
Pros
There are still incredibly smart, kind, and capable people at this company who genuinely care about their customers and colleagues. The product is solid and the flexibility to work remotely is appreciated. Day-to-day peers are the only reason many of us keep going — the camaraderie is real. CS are an exceptionally talented bunch and held to borderline impossibly high standards compared to other teams.
Cons
Leadership seems to have lost sight of what made this company great. The focus has shifted from genuinely helping customers succeed to driving arbitrary metrics and internal narratives. Customer Success now operates more like a call center — there’s little room left for strategic partnership or meaningful relationships, just an unrelenting push to hit ever-increasing call targets. The pace and pressure are unsustainable, and raising concerns about burnout, quality, or long-term sustainability is often dismissed as negativity. Constant change continues without clear direction or empathy, and morale has noticeably declined. KPIs have been in a constant state of flux. As soon as you adapt and start to feel successful again, they change their mind and pivot. Most of this year has been spent “resetting customer expectations” instead of delivering value and creating stable relationships. Compensation is not competitive given the expectations placed on employees and the rollback of benefits like unlimited leave - particularly concerning with leadership’s demands for higher output. There’s also a constant expectation to “demonstrate impact” by taking on extra initiatives that often fall within leadership’s remit, often without meaningful recognition or reward - mostly you’ll get a shoutout in a meeting or tagged in a Slack post. Career progression is slow and opaque — expect to wait several years for promotion unless you’re comfortable navigating internal politics. Flawed internal processes, communication & organisational structure that create roadblocks for customers and CSMs alike.
