Good intentions, terrible execution - Software Engineer Element (UK) Employee Review

Thank you for taking the time to provide some feedback. Like many tech companies, especially open-source ones, the last few years have been challenging since the market collapsed mid-2022. Our whole leadership is committed to steering the company towards success. Having reworked our strategy over the past 12 months to focus on a small number of specific areas of the public sector (where we have always had our strongest product-market fit) we are now seeing clear signs of success. Revenue has increased by 25% in the last six months as we approach profitability - and with increased focus, we see first-hand the improvements in how the various areas of the company can work better together and support one another. Morale and success are, of course, tightly linked. We track how the team is feeling in multiple ways, including anonymous surveys and feedback forums. While there's room for improving morale in every company, our surveys show a consistent month-on-month increase throughout 2024, which in turn reflects the success of the tighter focus. We are working hard to continue this positive trend. Compensation is an area we are continually reviewing to ensure it remains competitive. We do this by using independent salary surveys to ensure that we are tracking the market. It’s worth bearing in mind that we’re pioneering both a decentralised open standard, and a completely new type of communications platform - and so to be successful we hire the best people we can identify and our compensation philosophy reflects that. One of our company values is that we ‘Work in the Open’, which applies not only to our commitment to open source software but also to the fact that we are highly transparent internally in our communications. To do that effectively requires mutual trust and respect, and we are always open to how to improve the feedback and communication culture at Element. It can be unnerving that our culture enables us to freely identify and share mis-steps and learnings. The intention is absolutely never to be disrespectful - we can only apologise that you felt this. We would love to discuss your concerns further. If you are open to it, please feel free to reach out directly. Neil