now
I always wish I had a more personal way to respond to tough review then "Hey there"... But such is the way with anonymous posts. So... Hey there.
Goodness, this is the 3rd "former employee" review here in a row, and I see that you had been with Jane for a couple of years before posting the review - Over your tenure at Jane we would have doubled twice! That's a lot of change.
So first of all, thank you for being a part of the last few years of Jane's story. For me, they've been years filled with learning and growth, and I know everyone who has been scaling with Jane has had to commit to a lot of evolution over that time.
I want to say thank you for a few other things too. Thanks for specifically articulating that there's a real intentional vision of what Support at Jane should look like. And for offering me direct feedback that the vision I've set (Growth, but not at the expense of our Team or our Customers) might not have been lived out during the end of your time at Jane. And thanks for being positive both about Trevor and I as CEOs and on the outlook of Jane as a Business that is likely to continue to succeed. I really value that input.
As you know, I sat in the Support seat myself for many years, and I feel passionately about the value of the role, including how undervalued Support is both in Market Compensation. I also feel passionately about the possibility of Support being a Career of which we can be proud.
And as a a parent, I also take to heart the feedback that you might not have felt like you were given the flexibility you needed to support your family - I'm going to look further into that. As I parent my own three kids, I'm really aware of the challenges that come with work and family.
"Support as a Career" is an ongoing conversation I'm always engaging in with Marc and our Support Leadership. It's important to me that financially and professionally, our Support team have a clear view of a successful Career Path. You'll already know of our regular salary increases over time (which you mentioned in your "pros") - interestingly, while we target 50 - 75% of market comp for most of our roles at Jane, we target 125% for our Support roles. I don't agree with the way the Market values Support. It is SO undervalued - and as a "helper" role that is predominately female dominant I feel strongly that we should be advocating for Market wage increases. I am hopeful that Jane is a part of upping the Support wage out there for everyone in this important role. I just looked at your star rating, and actually see that comp and benefits was a place that you gave Jane âď¸âď¸âď¸âď¸ - so it's actually not an area that you struggled with.
Beyond comp, I also believe in a Career path that offers role development as well. This might be more relevant to the idea of burnout.
We've recently launched an "L3" Support role. Those in support are so well versed in the Customer Voice. I love it when we can take those on our team who have marinated there and spread their wisdom throughout the company. We've done that through internal movement between teams (90% of our Product Managers were once in Support), but I'm also working on how to allow this voice to be turned up while still remaining in a Support seat. Lots of new things to come here as we keep growing.
I am curious, given your tenure, whether this negative sentiment you've shared is something that changed recently for you. Did you experience a year and a half of things going well before this review? Sigh. I wish I could have back and forth conversations on Glassdoor...... There's always so many questions I have that are left unanswered. Often these reviews are a real moment in time, which is why people only ever read the newest ones....
If you aren not currently at Jane, you wouldn't have been a part of the recent conversations that have bubbled up in our anonymous slack channel (Ask_Jane_Leadership_Anything). I can see that sick time in particular has become a really hot topic. As per your suggestion, I'm digging deeply in there to see what's changed. Since it's come up in these last 3 reviews, it could definitely have been a recent focus of the team.
As always, as things crack over time, we are committed to the conversations and work needed to fix them. As I mentioned in the thread:
"[Hopefully!] Jane is not defined by whether or not things will break; we know they will.
I hope that Jane is instead defined by how we discover where things are breaking and how we work on fixing them, over and over and over again. "
Again, as per your advice, I'll keep digging in to see whether this experience you've had is something that is widely shared and we'll keep working on how to grow Jane the Company in a way that is respectful of our team.
Since you spent a few years with Jane, you would have greatly contributed to our success to date. But your story with Jane doesn't end here: You have gained ownership throught the ESOP, and (I hope) have exercised your options to remain an owner, even if you are not continuing on in your role at Jane.
Even though your time at Jane didn't have a final chapter that felt delightful to you, your feedback here and your contributions will always have an impact on our story. So thanks for the ongoing passion for Jane.
I will definitely take your advice and continue to work hard on scaling Jane in a way that aligns with our Values, and my Vision for a well-compensated, respected, Support Team. đ
Ali
Co-Founder/Co-CEO
On Behalf of Jane