Imaginuity Reviews

3.1

52% would recommend to a friend

(83 total reviews)

Taylor Calise

83% approve of CEO

45% positive business outlook

Imaginuity has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 83 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Imaginuity employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

83 reviews
1.0
24 Aug 2023

Please dont work here.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Trauma-bonding. You will meet some incredibly talented and amazing people that you will bond over the trauma that you experience working in this horrible environment.

Cons

Please read the negative reviews. Leadership has not changed and they have maintained a toxic work environment where employees do not feel respected or appreciated. This is such a toxic work environment they are having trouble hiring people. Instead of trying to create a positive work culture that will attract talented employees they "enlisted" current employees to write positive reviews to bury the negative ones. Here are some of the things that you will experience if you work here. I honestly didn't even want to write this because I know it will become more difficult to hire people and the work will fall on the individuals that are already overworked. 1.) Favortism: If you are liked by leadership, you simply will receive special treatment. You will be able to remotely work, you will receive more leniency, you won't get eviscerated for mistakes, you will have 1-on-1s, and you will be given assistance and direction. BUT if you are not one of the favorites, it is such a horrible work experience. Constant anxiety and constant fear. They will talk behind your back and speak poorly about you (seen this half a dozen times), they will gaslight you, they will be disrespectful, they will be unprofessional and the list goes on. 2.) Poor Work/Life Balance: The main client requires monthly planning which happens in the first two weeks of each month and it's “encouraged” not to take PTO during that time. Or you will be guilted that you are transferring your work to an already overworked employee. There is limited to zero flexibility. If you are supposed to be in the office that day, you simply can’t miss it. To reiterate this point. I have personally witnessed people have to change their flight at their own expense, being eviscerated for staying home with their child because they couldn’t find a sitter, missing a family vacation, etc. All this to be in office during an arbitrary 3.) No Respect. They have zero respect for their employees. People have been fired with no notice with no explanation. Leadership will gossip and talk bad behind your back while simultaneously smiling to your face. Will promise opportunities for growth, potential raises, and bonuses, if you are liked you will receive them. If you are not liked. You will be not given any of these things with zero communication/explanation. If you make a minor mistake, it will be on the next department touch base. If you are lucky it won’t be aggressively brought up during the all-hands weekly company meetings 4.) Micro-managing: If you are inactive on teams for more than 10 mins, they will ask you why you are not active. Monitor when you come out and when you leave. Monitor how long you stay for lunch. A recent change that the company made was to have work hours from 8:30 to 5:30 as people were staying a little longer than the 30 minutes that was allowed. They have to get a full 8 billable hours. Legitimately had 20+ meetings where this was reiterated. 5.) Fear: People are afraid, they are afraid to speak up. They are afraid that they will get fired, reprimanded, or even worse be a part of the non-favorite list and continue to work there. People don’t like it at Imaginuity and don’t think that have been taught the necessary tools to work at another company. 6.) Leadership Incompotence: Poor leadership is the core of all their problems. Simply out of touch with a healthy work culture. They will make you feel like the worst human ever if you make a mistake. You will be pushed to work long hours but act like it’s normal. Leadership has pressure from the client that puts pressure on managers that put even more pressure on people below them and it is a vicious cycle. Be prepared to feel like the whole world is on fire every day. Leadership will make excuses for a very toxic client and tell their employees “But I understand why they said that to you, because it’s their livelihood”. Trying to make you have the same Stockholm syndrome that they have. I have been in rooms where leadership is talking poorly about one of their employees for 20 straight minutes. I would be shocked if they last 5 more years. 7.) Horrible client: The worst client I have ever experienced. They will yell at you. Tell you that you don’t know what you are doing. They will try to fire you. They will take personal shots at you. Be extremely disrespectful and unprofessional. I have been in meetings where Imaginuity employees have been brought to tears by the client and leadership in that same room not intervening. This has happened to even people that leadership likes. However, they will always make excuses for this client no matter what they do. This seems like a lot of cons but I promise you once I post this. I will be kicking myself for not including more. What will leadership do with this review? Have 10 meetings about how this is not their culture, have 2 Friday mornings where C-suite unenthusiastic cook you breakfast, 1 more poorly themed and forced party (but make sure you are ahead of schedule before you attend which is a direct quote from a manager), comment on the grammatical errors and finally dismiss it entirely. Like I said. Please don’t work here. It’s a miserable experience.

avatar
Imaginuity Response
2y
In my capacity as the Senior Director of Human Resources at Imaginuity, one of my key responsibilities is gaining insights into our employees' experiences and ensuring an enthusiastic workplace environment. Imaginuity has a performance driven culture, and we do our very best to pay special recognition to individuals and teams that go above and beyond. By contrast, we also take steps to address situations where performance is not meeting expectations. In these situations, we work with employees to create development plans that result in a positive outcome. I am surprised by your comments regarding work from home and vacations. Imaginuity is currently two days in-office (moving to three days in January of 2024) and offers a generous six-week PTO benefit. In regards to your comment about client professionalism towards our employees, we take this matter very seriously and we always ensure appropriate action is taken. I'd like to hear more about your experience in a confidential conversation. Please reach out to me directly to schedule a time to talk. Regards, Dave Skooglund
1.0
21 Dec 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

What pros can I say..... I would say if you're wanting to see how an ad agency shouldn't run then apply, saying that if you're lucky you can actually learn from a colleague or mentor. But you could just be thrown into the grinder and tasked with achieving unrealistic goals and if you're really lucky you'll only work on one client and keep your knowledge of the industry extremely limited.

Cons

There aren't enough characters for me to list all of the cons, but I'll try my best. For starters, you'll have two-faced managers who say they have your best interests at heart and then never follow through with anything they promise, especially if it's meant for your career growth. Once past that discretion, if you show any leadership qualities or the ability to teach others you will then be "promoted" to a manager without the pay or recognition, but you will be given the work that comes with it. Then after all of that if you are of any other race than white or go to any other school than ACU or SMU you'll be looked over in your application or in the workplace for proper compensation/respect.

1.0
29 Apr 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The people and team from the original agency, before Imaginuity was acquired by Calise Partners. Most of that team is gone now.

Cons

The worst company I have ever worked for. I wish I could remove my time here from my resume. The Executive Media Director has a dismal reputation in Dallas, and has burned every bridge in the media circle in this market. It’s why no one knows about this agency, and likely why the media team isn’t a part of any media associations. Several members of the media team were warned not to work for her or this company, and we should have listened. The environment created by the media leadership team is TOXIC, exploits favoritism and provides zero opportunity for growth (unless you’re a favorite). The media planners aren't planners, they balance a budget. There is absolutely NO strategy for the main client, just a cycle of paperwork filled by order takers and then be verbally abused by the clients. Such a toxic atmosphere, being a part of the media team here will stunt your growth and you will not be qualified for a position anywhere else. This agency hasn't won new business in the last year, if they have they lost it within a few months. Their main source of revenue is one client that is unhappy but cannot leave. The agency’s response to a crisis was a layoff over a mass video conference call and pay-cuts just 2 weeks into the agency working from home. Leadership is not transparent with the full agency, and the work will always be first. They could care less about you, you’ll gain nothing but disrespect working here. Stay away.

avatar
Imaginuity Response
6y
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I can see how you might have come to some of these conclusions with a narrow view of the Imaginuity business. Since the majority of our clients are independently owned and operated, the money they trust us with comes directly from their household. What this means is that if Imaginuity does not produce, they do not prosper. This concept is rooted in our “Trust” core value: With great trust comes great responsibility and even greater opportunity. We do severe and mission-critical work for the companies with which we engage. We trust our team members to do whatever it takes to deliver successful results for our clients every day. And you can trust Imaginuity to provide the opportunity to grow and develop a meaningful career in an open, energizing, creative environment. You are right; Imaginuity encourages employees to embrace this responsibility and perform above and beyond for our clients and our agency. As such, we are quick to reward and promote teammates for their contributions, which should never be mistaken for favoritism. As a fiduciary for tens of millions of dollars each month, we take pride in the responsibility to account for every dollar spent and support the transparency our clients expect from us. However, it has not come at the expense of innovation. If you work in the media department, you have experienced this firsthand with the scope and pace at which we are making media performance data and analytics available to our team members through AdScience. Your comments regarding our Executive Media Director are rather pointed. Admittedly, she shoulders the burden of enabling her team to produce day in and day out for our clients. Since joining Imaginuity, she has been an integral part of our nearly 200% growth. I stand behind her high expectations and trust that she will continue to fulfill the goals set by her broader executive team, regardless of how difficult they may be. I vowed transparency on day one of the COVID-19 crisis. Unfortunately, a small reduction in our overall workforce was required to protect the longer-term prospects amid the uncertainty our clients faced, which ultimately impact our business and employees. Given the unique circumstances of COVID-19, the delivery of this message was complicated. Our substantial severance package resembles our dedication to our team members even in the most challenging times. I ultimately wish that you would have shared your discontent directly with me, but I appreciate your comments. If you are a current employee, I hope this perspective encourages you to uphold our core values and support our mission. You will be rewarded for your contributions. If you are a prospective employee, I hope this provides you with an additional perspective on Imaginuity!
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Glassdoor has 83 Imaginuity reviews submitted anonymously by Imaginuity employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Imaginuity is right for you.