Headspace

1.0

21 May 2021

Operations

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Joined during the pandemic and was pleasantly surprised with the onboarding process Nice people Internet stipend

Cons

I feel duped and wish I had listened to my gut during the interview process. I had some red flags during my interviews. They couldn’t answer specifics about company direction or long term strategy, but I assumed it was because it was confidential and I would learn once I started. There also seemed to be conflicting answers from my panel about what we were working on, which I should have paid more attention to. Turns out it was because we have no clue what we’re prioritizing. The one executive who interviewed me was all talk, and I fell for it. We are generic. There’s no real differentiator to us, so it’s hard to sell to clients. Hyper obsessed with competition without a tangible plan to address this. No clue what the bigger goal is. They say “mental health” a lot but no further details. Lots of jargon and words thrown out without meaning. So much talk, very little action. Everyone seems very burnt out, but nothing is being done about it. Management blames us for being disengaged, for not speaking up in meetings, for not asking questions. Everything is “why aren’t you more like this” while they sit on their perches and do nothing. The only people I’ve seen promoted in the last 8+ months are those who just say yes to everything. So many new “leaders”. They all try to connect with us by oversharing personal details during scripted introductions at weekly company Town Halls. But when you’re in meetings, it’s clear how cold they are. Most are inexperienced and overcorrect by micromanaging. Others just talk a lot but have contributed nothing meaningful. Not sure anyone is actually steering the ship. We’re bleeding. Lots of departures recently. Management never addresses questions about why attrition is so high. They seem to skirt around the question when asked or give some completely unrelated answer. Every week someone else is leaving but there’s no communication about it, so you just find out when you try to Slack them and their account is deactivated. I was very excited to work here but now I see it is smoke and mirrors.

Headspace Response

I am really grateful for you sharing this perspective on your experience, and letting us know that we have an opportunity to support you more deeply here. It's disappointing to hear that we haven't been able to bring the strategic direction to life in a way that is clear, or resonating for you - or what makes us different in terms of what we offer and how we're reaching our members, moreso because it's so incredibly amazing for me, and one of the major anchors that bings me to work every morning... I'd love the opportunity for us to help connect you with that clarity, so that we get you to a place where you feel clear and connected on our alignment triangle, and how all the amazing work you do daily is inextricably connected to our being able to deliver against: Our Vision, our Northstar, our True North Goals, our Strategy + Priorities/OKRs. With any scaling start-up, we need to constantly remind ourselves of the importance of keeping a work-life balance. I don't think I've worked for an organization where I've wanted to work or push myself harder than I do at Headspace, so I've really had to personally challenge myself to know when to 'unplug' and create healthier boundaries around my working hours and capacity -- especially in this strange era of 'working from home' in quarantine, and extended 'isolation', with little alternate outlets and distractions at my disposal. At an org level though, we continue to hold space for employees at daily 10am Group Meditations or Mindful Break, daily 3pm Mindful Breaks, Bi-Weekly Company Days Off (MINDays), and No-Meeting Fridays, and unlimited PTO. Granted though, that if priorities are unclear, overwhelming or there isn't a feeling of flexibility to leverage these Mindful Moments, they will not be creating the desired ease or positive impact for which they were designed. I'd like to understand how we can better optimize these moments for you and other employees to enjoy as intended if that is currently not the case. Please let me know if you would be open to connecting with me directly (in confidence) as a means for us to help effect some change here for you? -- Feel free reach out to me directly via email or Slack, and I'd be delighted to help facilitate next steps, and put the wheels in motion. Many thanks again for sharing your point of view, SP Simon Perry Senior Director, People Operations + Places

Disappointing, not how it seems from the outside. - Operations Headspace Employee Review

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