Is it normal to not hear back from any of the higher hierarchy (CEO, CTO, VP, etc) in a small startup once you've been hired?

Question

I've started working at a technology startup remotely as a programmer. The startup is small, around 10 people (including all the higher hierarchy). I've been approached and hired mainly by the CTO of the company. The initial Skype calls looked positive, but once I've agreed to work for them I haven't heard back from anyone except the actual team lead that I work with. So no "is everything fine", "we're happy with your work so far" or any of the like. The only few times that I've been contacted back was regarding payment info and again no "So how are things going, is everything ok?" type of questions, just a plain "Let me know your payment info, bye.". And I'm not even talking about performance feedback which seems non-existent - even the lead never says anything regarding my work - just here's a task, thanks, bye.

I've been working for 3 months so far and they're planning to move me to an on-site position, but I'm starting to have doubts and thinking about cancelling the deal. The cold communication approach of the higher hierarchy is sending a really bad signal. Am I being paranoid?

Answer 1

I've been working for 3 months so far and they're planning to move me to an on-site position but I'm starting to have doubts

Startups work at a break-neck speed, and you are expected to wear multiple hats. So, in case you are uncomfortable, you should immediately talk with the seniors.

And I'm not even talking about performance feedback

When you are amongst the first few hires of a startup, you are expected to do your tasks perfectly and gracefully. So, you wouldn't be receiving any feedback unless and until you are not doing your work properly. So, in your case, there's nothing to be worried about.

And why do they not spend time in meetings and appraisals regularly?

Because startups are extremely fast-growing and most do not believe in hour-long meetings unless and until something very crucial needs to be discussed and finalized upon.

So, it seems like you are indeed being a bit paranoid.

But, you might want to interact with the CTO during your free-time for a brief chat, and discuss how your work is going on and how you are feeling at work.

So, your team lead is the one who'll communicate with you, and you cannot expect the CTO to ping you for a fun gossip or a casual chat.

Answer 2

Probably paranoid. You are hired to do a job. Only the people who tell you directly what to do and check it really need to be involved with you (that would likely be your manager). Your manager's manager doesn't need to know how you personally are doing. He or she will just talk to your manager how your manager's work is doing.

That said, it would be nice in a smaller company to have a bit more contact.

Answer 3

Usually the upper executives rarely communicate with their "resources" (employees). They usually go in a hierarchy like executive -> manager -> team lead -> resources and each level maintains communication upwards but never over.

The CTO hiring people suggests that they don't allow their managers/team lead to do the hiring/firing. That is typical with small shops since it's so much easier to communicate between each other. At a larger corporation, you'll rarely deal/hear from anyone above your direct manager/team lead and he also does the hiring and probably leave the firing to HR.

I would say not hearing from the CTO is a good sign. If he does talk to you, then that is considered pretty serious either because the project is important or something is lacking in the project. I would never go above the team lead/manager though as that is generally viewed negatively.

Answer 4

Every startup I ever worked for, I had plenty of personal contact with the CEO. I saw or heard from the CEO at least every other day. But these were very outgoing guys who wanted to be involved, and wanted to get to know the people who worked for them. As a team, we got invited out to their houses a couple of times.

At my last startup, I was a remote employee. But I still had a good relationship with the CEO, because I was a very early hire. The CEO knew me, and always welcomed me warmly when I went to the office, which was maybe every six weeks or so.

You haven't mentioned if you have made any visits to the office. If you haven't, you should scheduled one immediately. As a remote employee, if no one ever sees you, then you will cease to exist. So go the office for a few days. Meet everyone. Try to socialize with some of them after work. Become a person to them. Hopefully it will change your whole relationship with the company.

Answer 5

The fact that you are not receiving constructive feedback is a problem, and you should probably bring it up with your superiors. Even a "how am I doing" conversation is a good thing to have. There is actually a serious section of Managing the Professional Services Firm dedicated to the fact that feedback is essential.

As to contact with the higher-ups, is that a requirement? Yes, it would be nice to have direct involvement with the CEO, but that is sometimes not available based on scheduling and client demands. It does not mean that you're falling behind or not doing well, it simply means that the management is trusting that the processes in place will help you and be sufficient. If they are not, then you should bring this up with your manager.

As a general rule, people need to have high availability to their direct reports an the people they are directly reporting to. It is generally advisable to have some availability to the people two tiers below, but by the time you get to three tiers of leadership, that availability dries up quickly.

But I think, again, that the key word here is "process". If there is a process in place where you have all of your needs met, then involvement by the upper management is not nearly as important.

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All of that said, if there are only 10 people in a company, it does seem strange that there is not greater transparency in the organization. It also seems a bit odd that they already have three levels of hierarchy in the organization. None of this is necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely is not something I would expect. I suppose I would say that it is understandable to have feelings of awkwardness about it, but I wouldn't say that it is a real red flag – again, so long as there is a process in place to meet your needs, then you should not have to worry.