Uber exec explains what it will take to boost company
In some ways, Uber exec Frances Frei is like the emergency responder who runs toward the flames, while everyone else is running away.
Frei joined Uber in June, at a time when other employees were heading for the door, and the ride-hailing company was struggling under the weight of scandal after scandal. Now it’s Frei’s job to help change a company culture that has been called “toxic,” and blamed for fostering sexual harassment and sexism.
It’s the kind of thing that’s right up her alley — Frei, a nearly 20-year veteran of Harvard Business School, is an expert in transforming organizations, fixing culture problems and closing achievement gaps.
Frei says Uber’s problems are nothing she can’t handle.
She sat down with this news organization recently, opening up about the progress she thinks the company has made so far, the “punch in the gut” she feels when a new scandal breaks, and the importance of Uber T-shirts. Q You joined Uber in the midst of an extremely tumultuous time, and took on the ambitious task of overhauling the company’s culture. Why? A Well if it weren’t that, I wouldn’t have come. I think that the service is incredible, and I think it’s genuinely at an inflection point — and I think that I can make a difference. So that’s the lure. I like to help individuals and organizations achieve their potential, and I think I can be helpful here. Q What was your impression of the company when you first walked in?
A Reading about it, I think anyone would have the same conclusion: “Oh my goodness, this place must be run amuck with a lot of bad apples.” It just seemed out of control. I wasn’t expecting to like it. And then I walked in the door and I tried to start finding the places where I didn’t like it. And I am still looking.
It’s filled with people that are really earnest, want to do the right thing. They’re not always set up for success. If we have a manager with 30 direct reports, that’s not fair to the manager. Whenever somebody left, it was usually because of an interaction they had with their manager, and I was expecting to see bad people managing. Teaching the skill of management never made it to the top of the priority list, for reasons that it’s not for me to judge. But wow, is that needed right now.
Q In additional to managerial training, what else are you doing to address Uber’s issues?
A We do not have a clear and coherent understanding of the strategy resonant through all of our 15,000 employees. That doesn’t make us all that unusual, but that’s my obligation now.
Q What’s your reaction when you hear reports of things like Travis’ “Miami letter,” or the Uber executive accused of stealing a rape victim’s medical records?
A Horror. Even though I wasn’t here. I’m a very loyal person — things that happened at Harvard Business School before I got there I feel responsible for. Once I get there, I’m “we.” So yeah, punch in the gut when you hear these things. Really. And then it makes me work tirelessly so that never, ever happens again. And I know how to do that. We know how to do that.
Q How much of this change relies on the CEO? A Do I think that the choice of the CEO is important? Yeah. But do I think that the CEO is going to come and everyone else can stand down because we have
the savior CEO? No. Because every CEO I know that has been successful has had a team of people.
Q What traits would you like to see in the next Uber CEO?
A We are an increasingly international organization. Every day we’re more global than we were the day before. And so I would like them to have experience with that: a deep, deep appreciation for operating in 77 countries. That’s a big, darn deal.
And I think the other super distinct part of our business is it’s also an astounding operations company. And maybe the other tech companies don’t have to be as operational. So if you came from an operations role, I need you to have reference for tech, and if you came from tech, I need you to have reference for operations. But if you’re biased for one over the other, I don’t think this will be a great fit.
I also think, all of this (controversy) happened — it has to be someone who gets that in a deep way, and understands the emotional context that that has.
And I guess the last thing I want is someone who understands that power of teams, because we have worked so hard to create that, that if we had a lone ranger come in, it would be disappointing.
Q You mentioned you’re already making some progress. How are you measuring that progress?
A I think it’s too early for the numerics. But we had some educational sessions that more than two-thirds of employees opted in to take. I can’t think of another organization on the planet in which people would take that kind of time out of their schedules. So that to me means people are leaning in, to use Sheryl’s (Sandberg) word, to it. This is an optimistic place that people are eagerly participating in. I would say morale seems good to me.
As I understand it the discussions are much meatier and people are willing to talk about things that they might have kept private before.
Q I hear you wear an Uber T-shirt to work every, single day.
A Yes, every day.
Q Why is that?
A I’m super proud to be associated with Uber. Every time I get into a car, I tell people I work at Uber and then ask them for feedback. My experience with other folks who work here is that they might not tell the driver that they were associated with Uber. Or they might be less inclined to bring Uber up at a party.
I’m going to wear an Uber shirt every day until everyone else is wearing an Uber shirt.
Q How many of them do you have? A I probably have 50 or 60. Yesterday I wore one from Peru. People from all of these different countries and cities are mailing me, with a beautiful hand-written note: “We’d be honored if you’d wear our T-shirt.”