Zapier

• Good pay.
• Interesting engineering problems to tackle.

Shift from supportive management to a micromanagement approach focused on fear of poor performance reviews.

Engineers are treated like children, with constant monitoring of their work to ensure they are meeting expectations.

Performance is now measured by arbitrary metrics like Merge Request numbers, commit counts, and comments, rather than actual contributions.

Employees are afraid to speak up for fear of being fired, with an apparent goal to have a certain percentage of performance-related attritions.

Surveys are being selectively shared, with management only disclosing portions that align with their perspective.

The shift to impact reviews discourages teamwork and forces only doing "impactful" work, leading to tech debt, hacks, and quick fixes that make systems unmaintainable.

Upper management imposes rigid “talent practices” without considering employee input, creating a toxic environment.

ICs are held to strict accountability standards, while upper management isn't.

People are here for a reason—they choose to be your employees. Respect that. Help them improve instead of constantly asking for more. Listen to them; they are experienced professionals who are in the same boat as you. They are all doing their best work, and with proper leadership, they can contribute to the company’s success in ways that may not always align with your current self-imposed metrics.

Focus on setting clear company goals, defining a roadmap, and communicating the plan consistently. Stick to it instead of changing paths every three months and blaming the builders if the numbers don’t match your expectations.

• Adopt a management style that prioritizes empathy, support, and team growth over micromanagement and fear-based tactics.
• Trust your people and allow them the autonomy to do their work without constant monitoring and micromanagement.
• Align your actions with the company’s stated cultural values, and lead (not manage) by example.
• Encourage teamwork and collaboration rather than solely focusing on individual impact.
• Hold all accountable for their decisions and actions, just as you do with ICs.

Listen to all your employees, for real, and involve them in decisions that affect their work and the overall company culture.