Avalara Employee Reviews about "work life balance"

Pros

There is a sense of optimism and passion throughout the company. Great work/life balance. Tons of potential.

Cons

Going through some growing pains with service and support, but things seem to be on the right track now.

Pros

Overall great culture! For a company with offices around the globe, Avalara puts a lot of effort into helping our teams work together to stay connected. Extremely smart and friendly people work here - we care about each other every bit as much as we care about our customers and it shows! We are encouraged to have fun, think outside the box to find innovative ways to contribute to Avalara's success. Avalara's... software positions us as an industry leader in sales tax compliance - it's hard not to be proud of where we are today and the journey it took to get us here. Recent improvements in benefits is a huge plus (401K match), moving to our fantastic new office in Pioneer Square consolidated 3 office buildings (to everyone's delight) and it was no surprise to me that we won Geekwire's Geekiest office award for 2018! We are finding ways to be active in our neighborhood and give back to the Seattle community. My hard work over the last year was rewarded with a significant pay increase. But pay isn't everything. I feel appreciated every day and that my voice and contributions are valued. Flexible work schedules with opportunities to work from home as needed provide excellent work/life balance. We have a mentor/mentee program in place and new employees are assigned an "Ava Buddy" to help them onboard. Our leaders are doing a much better job of communicating with our teams through monthly all-hands meetings. Questions are candid and answers are honest, which everyone appreciates. Avalara is a great place to work. Can we improve? Always.

Cons

I've read some of the less favorable reviews and quite honestly, I'm surprised -- this has not been my experience. My advice to these folks is to speak up and make your voice heard. We are given every opportunity to do so. Be the change.

Advice to Management

Continue along this course of improvement. Your efforts are appreciated! Thank you for listening to us and taking our suggestions to heart.

Pros

Company is growing up post-IPO and making good decisions Management seems to be listening and responding to issues Not a lot of red tape for getting things done—opportunity to make an impact and get recognized for it Smart, authentic people to work with—you won’t find many tech bros here It’s a good time to be in the tax industry and Avalara is positioned well Good work/life balance

Cons

Cross-team communication and processes are lacking May be trying to do too much at once

Advice to Management

Focus!

Pros

Good benefits for a sales company New Office Work/Life Balance Lots of open positions Customers can't figure out how to cancel, so they're making money

Cons

Lousy benefits for a tech company Top to Bottom mismanaged Customers hate the product Employees hate the company Cargo Cult management Drug Abuse is rampant Sexual Harassment is rampant No more IPO Muddled company vision Promotions for incompetence

Advice to Management

If the goal is to IPO, the companies approach has been baffling. Even if Avalara IPOs the moment the public gets wind of the actual internals of the company, the stock will plummet. It's time to bring on a leadership team with a proven record of successfully leading public companies. The code of the cowboy nonsense hasn't cut it over the past 4 years. Change starts at the top. HR had a plan to address company... morale, and based on the recent reviews, that plan either failed, or was abandoned. But hey, at least we're not Uber.

Pros

Constantly moving, revamping and upgrading technology. Stays up to date with common technologies Everyone is great to work with Work/life balance understanding There is a lot of faith in peers and support from upper management to get things moving

Cons

Constantly moving. Technology concepts change, but a solution to problems are not discussed only moved Common technology are based on who knows what the best, not necessarily the best tech for the task Work/life balance is understood but graciously asked to be overlooked. Line is very blurred at many times.

Advice to Management

Some problems that I have touched, and heard of, all have a common base. This base needs to be resolved, everything that is standing up around it are just patches. You really have a nitch corner in the market. You have a great quality product that has the promise to be something great; as long as the little things are taken care of. Those little things become big problems.

Pros

* Company aspires to provide employees with perks like the finest Silicon Valley firms. * Good work-life balance * Co-workers went out of their way to assist each other, often without recognition * Casual working environment

Cons

* Rampant nepotism creates an atmosphere of back-stabbing. * Leave your integrity and ethics at the door. Regional executive was more interested in bottom-line numbers than providing quality services for clients. Staff was instructed to send incomplete, inaccurate or unprofessional work to clients in order to pad the balance sheet. Unsubstantiated conclusions were included in reports without citing sources. *... Misogyny and favoritism was overwhelming. One worker arrived whenever it was convenient for her (it was probably a coincidence that her thong was exposed every day). Execs used to joke during onboarding that her hours were "whenever she felt like arriving." A friend was hired and showered with perks: his own office, took him to lunch multiple times a week, extended time to learn the system without any productivity requirements. The friend resigned before making a significant contribution. * Supervisors were crude and unprofessional. One would disappear for "lunch" with friends (translation: he would go out for drinks). A supervisor insinuated that he slept with one of his managers while at a meeting in Washington. A supervisor passed out at his desk after an office party where he made margaritas. * Upper management was not interested in knowing what happened in Rocklin. HR said CEO would reach out after Washington was notified of the situation in California. No follow-up was ever done. * Micromanagerial policies were implemented requiring a morning meeting laying out the working expectations for the day, a follow-up email chart documenting the work discussed at the meeting, and documenting the completed work on the emailed chart at the day's end. The meetings, charts, and emails wasted 30-45 minutes each day. It felt like a law office documenting billable time.

Advice to Management

Kitschy perks like providing snacks, having beer readily available and making life as orange as possible is not a substitute for honesty, integrity, and professionalism. Listen to the people who are in the trenches: they are the ones who know what is going on.

Pros

Good work-life balance. Not a lot of expectations to work long hours.

Cons

Not much in terms of company culture. Doesn't seem to value its developers as much as other orgs.

Advice to Management

Be more open and up-front about cost-savings. e.g. don't e-mail about a holiday party, decide not to host one, and then never talk about that decision.

Pros

Work-life balance, great people, relaxed environment

Cons

Poor planning and delivery of operations processes

Advice to Management

Improve internal processes and communication