Achievers Reviews

I have been working at Achievers full-time for less than a year

Pros – Free lunch, all-you-can-eat snacks and drinks, opportunities to choose your own rewards with points, a few great people, flexible schedule, amazing location.

Cons – For a company that specializes in engagement, I've rarely seen such a disengaged staff. Senior management hasn't the faintest clue what's going on, communication is dreadful, and the extreme emphasis on recognition leaves the unrecognized feeling awful. Few staff members are qualified for their jobs, although there are a few truly amazing standouts. You have to really drink the Kool-Aid to fit in here. When the in-crowd decides they don't like you, it's like Lord of the Flies.

Advice to Senior Management – Get rid of Razor and find an actual CEO.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Achievers full-time for less than a year

Pros – Free food like every other startup in SF.
Colleagues are nice and friendly, but you definitely have to make an effort to fit in with the team which means drinking the "kool-aid."

Cons – This company is a complete oxymoron. All they do is pitch employee engagement and recognition, yet I have never worked at a company with worse morale or turnover. The management team is all about telling you how great the company is, yet their actions do not support that. In my career, I have learned that a strong company consists of a strong leadership team who has the experience and vision to lead a company in the right direction, a product that works, and employees who are smarter than you. This company has none of that. Also, it is run more like a fraternity than a company, where culture is forced down your throat. Their "culture" is defined by spending 24 hours a day together, partying on the weekends, and not the shared values of the employees. Those who hang out with Razor are given preferential treatment and growth is not based on talent. Unfortunately, you don't realize how unhealthy the environment is until you leave. Given how much hiring is going on in tech these days, I would strongly recommend avoiding this company at all costs.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Achievers as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Great culture. As an intern, they gave me the opportunity to prove myself in some relatively high profile opportunities.

Cons – Like all web dev, lots of bug fixes. But so is the life of an intern

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Achievers full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Free food, Some great people, cool workspace.

Cons – EGO city! You literally need to penetrate into one of the various cliques to have a chance at this company. The CEO thinks he running a fraternity and will literally say "YES" to anything potential customers ask. IPO will never happen here, best case they get bought, but senior management who claims to be well versed in IPO actually is not. Also, caution on any positive reviews as new hires are asked to fill out a glowing review in their first 30 days.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop lying to employees, they are adults. Stop lying to customers and sell what you can deliver.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Achievers full-time for less than a year

Pros – Relaxed atmosphere, smart intelligent people, highly successful in their industry and innovative company looking at how the world works and functions and what the next generation of employees want and need to be successful

Cons – They continue to loose their great employees because there is no career path or goals for them to benchmark themselves against; therefore they need to address this immediately or they will continue to loose more top notch employees. In order to be more successful more process needs to be put in place in order to ensure our clients understand what is going on and how we are changing as a business. Clear vision needs to be put in place and clearly articulated out to employees so they see the future path for this growing company.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your employees and understand what they are requesting to make them more successful in their position. In the end, with being more open to suggestions and helping carve out a career path for specific individuals, Management will be successful also. Plus you need to start charging for your implementation services, you are loosing money on this transaction and you are no longer a 1 year old company it has been 10 years and you are an industry leader; therefore get a move on changing the costing model.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Achievers

Pros – Free food and casual dress are nice, as are the perks along the way.

Cons – This is the place where all standard modes of operation you've previously experienced mean nothing. If you've passed the screening and intense interview cycles and they make you an offer, think long and hard before accepting.

If your intent is to work hard at playing politics, then accept the offer.

However, if your intent is to work hard and focus on output instead of playing 'the game', then take a pass.

Advice to Senior Management – Clear out the self-serving 'leaders' and practice what you preach.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Achievers full-time for more than a year

Pros – It is a feel-good product. Who doesn't like being recognized? Clients (initially) like us and the idea of what we do for them.
Free Food - lots of it.
If you are "in" that week, management may be generous with points (our currency) so you can buy yourself something nice (if overpriced) from our limited catalogue.
There are some very talented people here (caveat: they are not being utilized or recognized)
Events and PR are outstanding. I bought into the hype, and some of our clients/prospects do too. Seriously, we should be overpaying these teams b/c they do the best things at the company.

Cons – Seriously wanted to love working here, but it just is NOT going to happen. This company touts itself as a serious software company, but it is just a social cult. If you don't like waking up on Monday wondering if management or the "cool" kids like you, then run.
Everyone talks about going public all the time (speaks to the lack of real business experience and maturity). Really? an IPO? There are very few people here that understand what that means.
We are not HQ'd in San Francisco. There is a presence in SF, but the leadership and direction come out of Toronto and those ideas are back in 1998 as far as how to compete and win in this space.

Advice to Senior Management – Start over. Don't play favorites. Get a strategy to execute on what we commit to clients.
Take the time to appreciate the talents of your employees and quit listening to the advice/gossip of the inside few - too many good people who are incredibly talented have left or been asked to leave without anyone really investing them - the revolving door is incredibly expensive.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Achievers full-time for more than a year

Pros – There are benefits at this place like laptops for everyone, great work spaces/offices, a great dress code, food and drinks supplied, a drinks celebration every Friday and other things that are perks indeed but these are superficial and hide the huge cons below sadly.

Cons – To be honest the list of cons is insanely long. The biggest con which sums it all up is that working at this company is nothing like what appearances make it to be. Management says they are transparent but they are not forthcoming with much information - most times they tell people when they are forced due to rumors, issues or no other choice. Management presents themselves like they have a strategy and plan for growing and focusing the company - but reality is that it changes so frequently, randomly and without true research and strategic thinking (makes it impossible to keep your role focused in the right direction). The company claims to be inclusive and accepting diversity but unless you are in a clique, drink the koolaid you will be an outsider and anyone not in a favourites circle, good luck being properly recognized or rewarded, regardless of performance. Lastly, they claim they put everything on the table and speak honestly with everyone - nothing could be further from the truth - most discussions with management or senior leadership are lies right to your face. Lastly in terms of execution, whether operations, marketing, strategy, or product development, they claim to have hired people with experience and great qualifications (A Players) when in reality none of these people in such high regard have actually worked for decent sized companies and actually know what they are doing - they fly by the seat of the pants - and as a result the company is managed by people in way over their heads. As a result, while the company concept is great, it falls apart in every aspect of execution from strategy, operations, development, client relations and overall management. Oh and most of the hiring is done based on culture fit - yes that is important to get along - but it usually WAY overshadows a persons qualifications so many people are hired as long as they have minimal qualifications as long as the hiring people think they could be FRIENDS with them - seriously!

Advice to Senior Management – Management need to take a huge step back and do some self reflection on every aspect of the business and ask themselves why so many employees are constantly leaving, even ones who have worked in startups, people with great qualifications and experience. Take a read and think about the points above because many people seem to be saying the same thing.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Achievers full-time for more than a year

Pros – Well you get free lunch, a laptop, free breakfast but as mentioned in other reviews the lunch is awful and breakfast is sometimes well past its expiry.

Cons – No direction at team level
Your position is dependent on amount of cash in the bank for this startup
People here watch and surf internet in the name of work
No incentives except for the stock options which you dont know if its going to materialise
Waste of time in company wide meetings which most people dont seem to be interested in

Advice to Senior Management – Needs to quickly realise that people make the company and not vice versa.
There needs to be some sort of performance review
Stop worrying about competitors and concentrate on what you make - which will make the company go forward

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Achievers full-time for more than a year

Pros – Everyone here is incredibly talented at what they do. It's refreshing to work with incredibly talented individuals in a fast-paced company. Everyone has the same goal in mind and all work hard together to achieve it.

Even though the company is growing at such a fast pace, everyone still knows everyone else and it keeps coming to work enjoyable.

Having access to the stock options is amazing. We can see our company keep improving and succeeding in our space and know that we will all be rewarded even more down the road for our continued success.

Cons – With a fast-paced environment, comes lots of changes and extremely hard work. New deals means lots of new changes to the software and it's implementations. Not really a con, more a fact of business but it keeps us busy that's for sure.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company