The company has struggled with the treatment of women, among other things. This is particularly true for women in sales. Phil Shaw, one of the owners, and a former SVP (no longer with the company after yet another scandal with one of the young female employees) have fostered a culture akin to the movie "Wolf of Wall Street". In order to be a successful sales person in this company you are required to attend the many alcohol infused, debachorous events. In some offices the sales team was pressured into events weekly or even two to three times a week. If you don't attend you are scolded as not part of the team. If you do attend you need to navigate the shark infested waters of sexual advances, venomous "jokes", and superiority complexes of male managers needing to feel almighty.
There are other challenges to being a sales person in this company (pyramid schemed hierarchy, abusive email culture, grossly exhaustive schedules), but in my experience the aspect that most, if not all, women in sales here feel is the pervasive sexualization of women colleagues. Women can be very successful here, but what they have to ignore on the way is overbearing. As with most employers, there is an element of prejudice to women leaders here too. Take a look at all of the posts here regarding Liz Elting. She does not directly work with Project Managers, yet they claim to have direct knowledge of her litigation strategy. Read the public findings of the court and one can easily see which of the dueling CEO's has been prolonging the suit and playing dirty. Another instance of alpha males bullying a female colleague with claims that she is hysterical or bossy? I wish I could say this was not a daily occurrence in this company. For some, it is an hourly challenge.
No wonder the turnover rate for junior to mid level sales members is insanely high. Note - management of the sales team does not fall under Liz, but under Phil. Look at the legal sales team for one. 68 in total; 8 women.
