28 feb 2024
Reactie van Flash Pack
2yThank you for sharing your thoughts and concerns. First and foremost, I’m deeply saddened to hear your comments and thank you for the opportunity to publicly address the issues you’ve raised.
The experience of being released from a company is understandably devastating no matter the conditions and I’m sorry for your hurt.
It's worth noting that we invest heavily in training our managers to deal with underperformance issues so the HR manager is rarely involved in dismissal decisions.
As the CEO I’m
sometimes heard saying to new staff at onboarding “ We are NOT a family, we are a team”, so I’m not 100% sure where you heard the contrary.?
We are a high-growth startup and our environment isn’t one in which everyone can flourish but we work hard to ensure we give everyone the best chance possible - demonstrated by the fact that it takes us on average 8 months to make the decision to release someone and only once we feel we have exhausted all avenues.
In the case of this recent dismissal we extended the 6 month probation, set up a Performance Improvement Plan and only when the employee failed to improve made the decision to release them - offering 9 times the notice period they were contractually entitled to plus access to unlimited therapy.
We grew our team over 100% last year and unfortunately we will make a few mistakes when hiring at speed. These dismissals may feel like a shock if you have never worked for a high growth startup or for companies that tolerate underperformance.
Toxic Positivity, burnout and lack of progression:
> 33% of Flash Pack employees were promoted in 2023. 59% were female and 28% BAME.
Our recent independently verified Flexa score does not reflect your sentiments:
> 77% of staff recently said they have work-life balance which is an incredible achievement for a high-growth company. Where we have identified a small number of people struggling with their workload we have supported them to re-prioritise.
> 96% of staff said they had complete autonomy over getting their work done
> 93% said they felt flexible working is part of the culture at Flash Pack
> 88% of staff very happy with the flexibility in the hours they work
We provide access to unlimited therapy and mental health days as the wellbeing of our staff is extremely important to us.
We have provided work-place adjustments to staff who have declared a disability. There are two reviews submitted before this one that completely contradicts this post.
You mention toxic positivity but I believe you are confusing the genuine experience of most employees. The percentage of promotions and the wholehearted and authentic nature of reviews we have received here on Glassdoor would testify to this.
Diversity and Inclusion:
> No gender and ethnicity pay gaps exist at Flash Pack due to our trailblazing transparent pay policy
> We pay very generous sick leave allowance, make work-place adjustments for our employees who have declared a disability,
> We allow employees to work from abroad to accommodate personal lives
> A number of employees with disabilities have been supported to promotion.
There is always more to do and we acknowledge there are limits to how much support we can give especially when there is an issue of consistent underperformance. But our stats speak to how hard we have worked and dedication to creating an inclusive workplace for all.
Of 78 staff across the globe:
> 40% identify as BAME
> 4% have declared a disability
> 60% female workforce, 34% male and 2% other
> 60% of the leadership team are female and 17% BAME
We acknowledge no Christmas cards were sent to staff but we did make a significant investment in flying all staff from US and Melbourne to London for a Christmas Party held at the National Portrait Gallery.
We also offer Equity rather than bonuses.
We are very proud of the workplace culture we have created. For anyone reading this post, if you would like more information please contact our new Director of People Jess Reeves who starts with us on 4th March.
Radha
CEO and Co-Founder