I couldn't have chosen better :)
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Mutual respect and a sense of playfulness at the workplace- I always had the feeling we were working as a team towards a shared goal. At the same time there was always room for humor and being honest, that's not something to take for granted. I felt comfortable going to work and in what I was doing, that was thanks to my teammates and my lead, who gave me that security and support in the first place. Nothing worse than going into a hostile workplace, afraid to ask questions and make a mistake - I never once felt that. It sounds clicheè, but I did not feel like I was going to work a lot of the time, I genuinely enjoyed and believed in what we were doing. I sometimes sat at work thinking 'crazy that they're trusting us kids to decide this and to do that' - but it only spoke to the trust and freedom given to us, and the fact that weren't asked to be perfect and to stop being human. (also for the record, nobody is/was an actual kid, maybe just at heart <3 :) )
Verbesserungsvorschläge
I think the general idea is always you gotta say something (anything) negative / give suggestions in order for a review to sound legit. But my only suggestion is to keep shooting for the stars and to stay human, like you always have :)
Arbeitsatmosphäre
Comfortable would be the best description! In the most positive sense, including the whole environment of course, but it was mostly the feeling of being surrounded by kind people and knowing we were there for each other :) In my team we'd celebrate success, we'd compliment each other and we showed appreciation - I could feel this in other teams as well.
Image
To be 100% fair, I don't know as I never monitored it closely. People who know Tractive mostly had positive reactions, so I'm going to go off of that! (what I know is that certain collabs definitely helped boosting Tractive's image, which led to even my grandma knowing them). All in all, I think they're doing a great job representing the company :) (ESPECIALLY the person in charge of their LinkedIn!)
Work-Life-Balance
I was wary when we introduced the 4 day work week, it took some time to adjust, but it gave us an insane amount of freedom. Life happens outside of work as well- appointments, emergencies, etc. and it was way easier to coordinate all of that having an extra day off. It wasn't just that though, there was always the opportunity to ask to leave work a bit earlier/come in later or even take a day off on a whim- this is definitely not the norm everywhere else.
I also never felt pressure to work outside of work hours. I would do it, but it was because I enjoyed it / wanted to. I think sometimes this sounds like a red flag, but for some work can be a hobby, it doesn't mean there is no work life balance. Essentially, this only means you can balance both for extended periods of time while not neglecting self care - I was able to do that :)
Karriere/Weiterbildung
For me personally, career growth is not equal to promotion and climbing the corporate ladder as high as possible. What mattered to me was personal growth within my career, and I was allowed and encouraged to do that. This might scream red flag to some, but this does not mean there are no opportunities- it means people are complex and what goes for some doesn't work for others. Not every path can be laid out beforehand and not everyone can or wants to be a team lead.
Matter of the fact is people got promoted internally (a ton actually), they got given new roles and tasks that they asked for.
I think when it comes to this point specifically, there is a sense of self awareness and also initiative that is missing when people talk negatively about it. It is simply impossible to constantly give everyone the role and tasks that they ask for or think they should have - what is possible and what was (and I assume still is) practiced at Tractive is that people are given the chance to actively take part in the decisions of where their career and growth are headed. Not everyone will take that chance, and for some a certain role may only be a fit for some time. That is OK and natural.
Gehalt/Benefits
Here is the hard truth: no matter what anyone answers here, it will never reflect individual experiences.
As for salary, I was happy with what I got, I always thought it was fair. For others in different roles this might look different (in either direction). Depending on somebody's situation/education/experience, salary will be a higher or lower priority, and negotiations will look different as well. There are definitely opportunities to talk about it! This is not unique to Tractive though.
As for other benefits - taking a look at other employers, Tractive was definitely keeping up, if not going above. The climate ticket and the health benefit are a huge thing! Again, wouldn't benefit everyone, but it benefits a lot of people!
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
The will and the effort was always there. Of course not always clear for everyone to see, but personally I did see and know about it. Could they do more? Probably, but that is true for everyone- individual people and even bigger companies. I think it's easy to point fingers sometimes, but in this case I truly believe Tractive is doing its best.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
This was the major reason why I loved working for Tractive :) I love my (ex) colleagues and my team was in my opinion the absolute dream team for the time being. I made friendships throughout the company that go beyond work and it goes to show that we genuinely cared about one another. That doesn't always translate into working well together, but in my case it really has. Could be different for every team/personality type of course, but this was my experience.
As for the company as a whole, I felt that bond as well, and I felt it went beyond just the Austrian office. When things got tough (to be fair that rarely happened), we had each other's backs.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
I never noticed any differences in how older/younger colleagues were treated. Yes, Tractive is a younger company, but there are also older colleagues and it gave us great learning opportunities :)
Vorgesetztenverhalten
One thing high on the list of things I miss is my lead. We were seeing eye to eye, there was nothing but respect and support, even when I was leaving. I made mistakes over the years, forgot things and miscommunicated- but it was not an issue, we were growing together and I was given the chance to do and be what I was good at. My lead also actively asked for feedback and incoorporated it, no questions asked. This level of comfort meant we could also discuss personal matters and lean on each other without it bleeding into work related tasks.
As for the company as a whole, I knew I could go talk to management/leadership whenever I wanted/needed to, the door was always open. I was never disrespected or brushed aside, something that is also not the norm in a company (sadly).
Arbeitsbedingungen
I had everything I needed to do my job as best as I could and could've always asked for more :) (especially also a free sugar rush and a borderline coffee addiction, for which I blame only myself though)
I think a huge plus are the free parking spots - this always seems to get forgotten, but it is NOT the norm. Of course the things you need FOR work are important, but first you gotta get there.
Kommunikation
Within my team and with my lead the communication was great. I knew that no matter to whom I reached out to, I would get support. If there were things that did not go well, I was allowed and encouraged to say it and we'd fix it together. We could also say difficult things without taking it personal, there was no tabu and plenty of room to actually speak about it (meetings, regular feedback etc.).
As for the company as a whole, it was of course so and so - but overall most of the employees were easy to talk to and work with, respectful and kind communication was encouraged.
Answering things like this is tricky because everyone communicates differently- it doesn't make them 'bad' communicators, maybe just difficult for some to understand and adapt to. With time I always found a common ground- sometimes it also helps to reflect your own communication style.
Gleichberechtigung
In my opinion, yes. It was always clear that equality should be and is practiced, it just doesn't always look the same to everyone. For some equality means everyone can do anything, for some it means every exception made out of good will should apply to them as well, for some it means everyone is given the same respect and the tools that they personally need. For me the latter is true and I know that Tractive is living that. What it comes down to is the question of whether I am actually being treated unfairly / disrespected because of who I am (be it gender, nationality, disabilities or sexuality,...) OR am I pissed because somebody else was given something to succeed that I personally didn't need but think I am entitled to? Depending on how this is answered, the answer here would change drastically but might not be a reflection of reality.
Interessante Aufgaben
Definitely, yes. My tasks changed over the years, and I was always given the chance to voice my opinion about it and actively decide together with my lead and the team. I did things I didn't think I could and was allowed to grow with the tasks, rather than being perfect at them at the first attempt. What made it fun was also working with and helping others in my team with their tasks- it gave us all a chance to see what the other person was doing and brought us closer together because we'd know the others valued our opinion/support :)