Female leader but, unfortunately, still a very misogynistic - Anonymous employee Escalent Employee Review

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond because we value our Escalent family, and what you are describing certainly does not fit with our culture. We haven’t received feedback like this before in any of our exit interviews, anonymous forums, employee satisfaction survey comments, or monthly Q&A sessions with company leadership. If you are a current employee, I encourage you to reach out to me, HR, or the senior leader you are most comfortable speaking with directly. There are several important areas we’d like to address specifically to offer readers more information: Pay Equity: The allegations related to pay inequity at Escalent are not true. Pay equity is an imperative for Escalent. It is so important that we engaged an outside firm to conduct an independent analysis in October 2021 to verify our own analysis that demonstrated that we pay equitably. The study confirmed there is pay equity at Escalent. This Pay Equity Analysis was for the largest section of our workforce, where 70% of our team is female. The study findings confirmed no correlation between pay and gender, and strong correlation with pay grade and tenure as would be expected. Leadership & Culture: Bullying is not acceptable. Ever. We would take any claims seriously. To address them, we need to know about them, and we have had no claims related to bullying in any way, shape or form. As CEO, I strive to hold myself and all leaders throughout our organization accountable for fair and equal treatment, and that includes not only embracing but inviting diverse perspectives and opinions. In particular, we have remarkable female leaders across the organization who are empowered to raise issues for the good of Escalent, our employees, and our clients. These are some of the smartest, strongest women I’ve ever known, and they would not tolerate bullying nor would they hesitate to ensure it was addressed through proper channels if it occurred. It’s important to note that our hiring process focuses on more than abilities and experience—it focuses on character, too, to ensure we maintain a culture where people respect one another and enjoy working together. Managing culture in a virtual environment is a new challenge for companies around the world. That is why in 2020, we established monthly All-Company “Ask Escalent” sessions to stay connected and create a forum for candid, direct communication with our leaders. Employees have embraced this forum, submitting dozens of questions. And leaders have responded transparently to each and every one. Promotions: The portrayal of our promotion process is inaccurate. Full stop. Promotion timing at Escalent is based on employee readiness and business need, and is not constrained by the timing of our review process. Group leaders seek counsel from HR when making talent decisions like hiring, promoting and retaining employees to understand what’s fair. In 2021, 74 employees earned a promotion across all levels of the organization, 65% were female / 35% male. Work-Life Balance: • Our leadership has consistently proven their support of a flexible work environment—long before the pandemic, but especially during the pandemic—as families juggle competing work and life priorities. They understand how essential flexibility is because they have families, too. In 2020, Escalent established bonus “All-Company Mental Health Days” in addition to our standing holidays so everyone could truly take a break without worrying about their inboxes filling up. • We fully acknowledge that workloads have been high for some individuals. We recently had three people resign due to workload. We learned from what they shared, recognized that the workloads were not sustainable, and have hired five people to replace them. We listen and learn. • Among our salaried workforce, we have “reduced schedule” options, allowing employees the opportunity to retain their job, yet work fewer hours per week to accommodate their particular life needs (temporary or lifestyle situations) such as work/life, health, education, etc. Pay is reduced accordingly, yet benefits are retained in full. • It’s important to note that Escalent is a market leader on Paid Parental Leave. We pay 12 weeks for maternity and six weeks for paternity including adoption. Commitment to Integrity: Escalent is committed to the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and accountability. That doesn’t just happen. It is the result of a thoughtfully crafted and clearly articulated company ethos—one that is embraced, practiced and affirmed daily across our company. As mentioned above, I encourage you to reach out to me, HR or another senior leader so we may learn more about your experience and put our collective energy together to drive progress. Sincerely, Melissa Sauter (she/her) CEO