1. Hiring freeze - Management enacted a hiring freeze when they really shouldn't have because their customer base and popularity was still rapidly growing (they’ve at least doubled in size each year they’ve been in business). Then, shortly thereafter they froze interdepartmental transfers and cross-training because there was not enough staff to keep up with the incredible workload. That last part is especially important because it stopped employees from moving teams to do what they enjoyed - and more importantly, what they were good at. This left a lot of employees feeling stuck and frustrated, myself included.
2. Outside hire managers - the number one thing that I disapprove of in any large business is an outside hire into a management position. Especially with a company as steeped in carefully-cultivated culture as Carvana prides itself on being, it takes a while for *any* new hire to get a hang of the social/interpersonal expectations, much less the details of their actual job (and there's a LOT to learn). Putting someone in a management position when they aren't familiar with the company and proficient in the department/position they're supposed to be leading is a one-way ticket to frustration for all involved. Thankfully outside hires only happened rarely, but the issues created were (in my experience) so severe that it was one of the two leading causes for why I eventually left the company.
3. Metrics - When I started, metrics weren’t #1 priority. Instead, the promoted goal was to just be as helpful to the customer as possible no matter what that meant or how long it took, which was so awesome. In my experience, that often meant lots of detailed explanations of how the unique Carvana purchasing process worked so that the customer would have the correct expectations and end the conversation with a good impression of the company (for this point specifically, we were encouraged to inject our personalities and have fun with it, which was a wonderful and very welcome change from other call centers I’ve worked in). During the aforementioned hiring freeze when we were no longer able to keep up with the amount of work flowing in, management seemed to see this as productivity being down despite all teams working their tails off each day. In response, lunches were cut in half, numbers became prioritized over quality of service, and competitiveness was encouraged over camaraderie. This was the other leading cause for why I left, though I sincerely hope that it has changed since then.
Even after these issues that ultimately caused me to leave I still admire Carvana and I love the change that they’re working toward - creating a simpler, easier, more straightforward car buying experience that puts the customer in control. I still recommend them to others looking to buy a car, but as for internal operations they are clearly a new company (not even 6 years old at the time of writing this) and they are still learning and adjusting.
