Resonance Reviews

Thank you for your comments. I am sorry you are so disappointed with your journey at Resonance. As the founder of the company, it can be difficult to read such critical feedback, but I appreciate the fact that you cared enough to provide it. I would like to respond and offer a few thoughts: 18 mo ago we hired a highly experienced Chief People Officer. In doing so, we made it very clear to the company that we were elevating the HR function from a support function to a central role. As a consulting firm whose core asset is our talent, putting our people at the heart of what we do is essential. We make no apologies for this. Prior to the CPO’s arrival, supervisors had broad discretion in making promotion and salary decisions. As we grew, this created significant inequities across the firm as some supervisors were very demanding and others tolerated mediocrity. Staff were sometimes promoted on very specious grounds and then unable to succeed in their new role. Therefore, much of the CPO’s efforts have been focused on reducing bias through the introduction of new processes and policies, following best practices as set by SHRM and other professional bodies. We have standardized the process by which performance reviews are conducted and salary and promotion decisions are made. This necessarily reduces supervisor (including leadership) discretion, but it is vital if we are to achieve the equity portion of our DEI goals. Where we – as leaders- fell short of the mark is on communicating the rationale and importance of these changes. The Extended Leadership Team has taken this lesson to heart and we are making a much more concerted effort to communicate policy changes more consistently and clearly. Resonance is in no way a ‘churn and burn’ firm. We invest enormous resources in our employee well-being. We offer flexible work schedules. We offer remote and hybrid work options. We have a wellness benefit. We give out regular cost of living increases to offset inflation. We offer PTO for community volunteering and civic duty. We have Centers of Excellence to promote learning. We have a home office benefit to purchase equipment and supplies. We have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to connect our staff with the mental health and medical resources they need. I also want to remind you that, as a Resonator, you have quite a few channels for providing feedback to leadership. We have open Q&A at every all-hands meeting; we have an anonymous feedback portal on our SharePoint, and we routinely conduct staff surveys, including the current Organizational Culture Assessment. The CEO also routinely meets with teams across the firm to share updates and answer questions. More to the point, leadership doors are open. In the 15 years, I cannot think of a single instance where I (or any one in leadership) declined a meeting request from a staff member from project assistants on up. Going forward, I encourage you to make use of these venues to provide comments and feedback. I am happy to meet with you to listen to your concerns and discuss further. Steve S.