For those ...

Question

For those tenured reps - how has culture changed over the last year?

Former Employee · Accepted Answer

Extreme micromanaging and fear based management. No one feels safe, even the top performances are now commonly being put on performance plans if they don’t pace or for random reasons like forecasting isn’t updated perfectly or isn’t making calls earlier in the week. Every week leadership requests you generate an unrealistic pipeline and if you don’t hit then PTO requests are denied by some managers. The sales org has been tasked to reduce operating costs by 20% by the PE firm so they are doing everything they can to rightsize the sales teams. eSMB and BDRs are now being outsourced to Mexico.

Current Employee · Answer

The sales org is definitely not what it was last year. The company went private in November and the PE firm that took over has turned everything on its head. They’ve taken away some key tools for sales like Gong and reduced the number of solutions consultants so you have little technical support on a realistic timeframe for a customer’s evaluation. They are cutting tons of costs by outsourcing some sales teams to Mexico and cutting people more than they used to. The org used to be a great place to work, collaborative, supportive of work life balance…now we’re working far later into the evenings to keep up with the demand of the new ownership while trying to provide good CX ourselves. Yes, the new ownership is putting more processes in place but no one knows what they are or how they work, and managers don’t know either. They’ve also changed the comp plans for sales reps and the new structure makes it harder to hit OTE as it actively works against you so they can save money. Everyone is stressed and worried all the time. I’m not confident anyone is still happy on my team at Zendesk but it’s a horrible time to look for a job elsewhere so everyone feels stuck.

Former Employee · Answer

Place is a dumpster fire and only getting worse.

Current Employee · Answer

It has changed from a more work and life balance culture to a more hussle mindset, work hard play hard culture in recent years. At times it feels like the expectations are unrealistic and that you have to work every day for 12-14 hours to meet leadership demands.

Former Employee · Answer

My first year at Zendesk was fantastic. I felt empowered to explore creative initiatives within a culture that embraced a growth mindset. However, after Zendesk was acquired by a private equity firm, the culture shifted dramatically. Competent and high-performing Account Executives are often let go without considering territory reallocation or addressing first-line management issues. Decision-making has become disconnected from facts, leading to an environment where no one truly succeeds. Meeting quotas has become challenging, especially unless you’re working in those prime territories where expansion is still viable. While securing a few large new business deals can keep you afloat, you need to excel at prospecting key accounts while also managing your existing clients. If you can’t balance these demands, you risk earning very little and facing a performance improvement plan quickly.

Current Employee · Answer

The organization has changed since 2022. Activity and metrics are monitored more than they were before. On the flip side, the new management have focused efforts on creating new products and differentiating Zendesk from its competitors.

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Anonymous Q&A

For those tenured reps - how has culture changed over the last year?