I wasn’t going to ever write this review but the vilification of black women when they set and stick to boundaries is unwarranted. Folks at this organization are blaming black women that have left of dissuading other black women from joining the organization. Smartsheet needs to hire more black women but shouldn’t do so without creating safe spaces and at the very least a culture of equity, balance and belonging.
Starting at Smartsheet was interesting. During training, the trainer was played music which was actually great. Within the first week a song came up that was using the n-word a lot. The only black person in the room had to ask the trainer to skip the song. White employees and managers use so many micro agressions and the only people to ever say anything about it are the people they it’s being directed against. As most black people know, especially black femmes, it is very tiring to educate white folks on why their actions and words are racist while you are already having to deal with the consequences of that racism.
I left for two reasons. The first, I had a several traumatic events happen that related to family. I took time off to be with my family. When I returned, my manager, who was fully aware of what was going on, said to me that I can’t take so much time off with such little notice (I was gone for two weeks). The reason was because it affects his performance. My response was I’m sorry you’re going through such a hard time. All of these things are happening but I’m so sorry this is hard for you and I walked out. I received an apology the next day.
The second event that caused me to leave was when I found out some new hires that I was helping train were making about 20% more than I was, salary wise. I had a conversation with my manager who wanted nothing to do with it. I was hurt by the lack of advocacy but I went to HR who made excuses and then directed me to one of the leaders of the sales org at the time, one of the most mediocre men, to this day, that I have ever met. He often tried to lead with intimidation. I asked why I was getting paid less for doing the same job. Especially when I have been one of your top performers and being on diversity boards, regularly hosted sales meetings to help boost performance, help train new folks etc etc etc. His response, we bring people in based on what they were making before and if we find talent and they are making more than we typically offer, we bring them in at a higher rate and no one is asking you to do all those additional things. I later shared that women typically make less than men, especially women of color, and when you pay people based on what the used to make before Smartsheet, you’re perpetuating the cycle of women making less. He responded that women don’t make less and that was just a generalization or fake data, I was shocked by the ignorance. I shared some data from the department of labor but nothing changed. I followed up with HR but as far as I know nothing else came of it. I left shortly after. I was there for two years.
