INSIDE SCOOP @ TRIPACTIONS

INSIDE SCOOP…. At end of training bootcamp, enablement now requires all new employees to leave a 5 star Glassdoor review. Think that says it all… but if that’s not enough let me lay out my experience as a TA employee. Brain dump but needed to vent… try to make it to the end if you can! No comp plan has lasted longer than 1 month. Reporting is 9 times out of 10 broken or inaccurate and makes it near impossible to track where you are at against your quota. Job description is completely different from reality— making it near impossible to know how to prioritize your day and efforts. Going back— Week 1 at TA, it was brought to my attention that two leaders in the rev org have a tainted past and have had sexual encounters with employees. One is now married to his victim who also works at TripActions. He was fired for the inappropriate work relations but was then hired back…..RED FLAG. The other one: Google Grant McGrail. We took WeWork’s sloppy seconds. I was retaliated against for sharing concern around lack of career pathing and inefficiencies in day to day tasks (i.e. updating notes for senior leadership in multiple places outside of my own book which duplicated all of my efforts daily, manual outreach to solidify travel budget where numbers were initially inflated by sales, serve as a support function as that is still being rolled out here, etc.). Received zero positive feedback throughout my tenure. In speaking with HR, the rep told me my manager shared with her directly that I was an “excellent” employee. That was the most positive feedback I’ve yet to receive from her (albeit indirect feedback) and I think it is indicative of the lack of management training and resources. They are strapped beyond belief and therefore the late nights and weekends I spent working overtime to make my manager and leadership look good received zero recognition. Yet, leadership and my manager are so quick to jump the gun and point fingers at the slightest mishap— truly so indicative of the extremely toxic culture that TA produces. Job description has changed 5 times in 1 year just adding additional responsibilities/work that is unsustainable/unrealistic with no pay raise, title change, or enablement. Even adding components of other departments that are outside of my skill set and job description. The majority of managers have proven themselves to be incredibly inefficient leaders, gossiping behind people’s backs and not supporting the actual people they were hired to manage and support. The people at TA are smart and generally wonderful but everyone in a management position (with the exception of a few) are unequipped and immature. When I asked what a typical yearly raise would be for a top performing employee or how to work towards a senior title the response from management was, it’s completely subjective and there’s no career path matrix (“thus you should probably get another job if you’re not bought into the mission”) and buying into the mission means working 10+ hours a day and believing that we are a startup. They love to call TA a startup… 7 people that I personally know and adore quit since the start of the year. As I said above, I have met some really awesome people. And I’ve made some incredible friendships. That said, misery loves company— and the toxic environment trauma bonds you in a way that is plain sad. This is a job, it shouldn’t be so hard to do it. Going back to leadership, the top tier execs are childish, cliquey, quick to treat employees poorly, they promote not based on merit or experience or performance, but whether or not your manager likes you and who can kiss the most ass. If you speak up you’re fired. If you don’t go into the office 3 days a week, you’re fired. Dramatic exit of multiple C level executives, quiet quitting, layoffs without explanation. Constant changes with little to no plausible explanation. Constant fear of being fired over NOTHING. Again, zero career progression unless you’re a manager’s favorite and they want to give you a senior title… which let me tell you, means jack shit. EXTREMELY TOXIC. Do yourself a favor and don’t work here. Every person you talk to is miserable. They are all actively looking to leave whether they show it on their face or not. Can say with certainty that the majority of sales and CS will be completely turned over by EOY. I don’t see this changing unless leadership takes their heads out of the quicksand that is Ariel’s tyrannical rein (his tweets are outrageous— go look) and really work to build a strong leadership team that values the integrity of the individual, career pathing, and believes in the power of employee first. It’s a sinking ship. Grab your life vest and jump overboard, or be prepared to go down with it. #tech