31 Aug 2017

Could have been a good place to work.

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Great products: You can tell this place is going somewhere. Awesome people: The production team is full of fun people. Positive outlook: As I said, this place will/could go somewhere. Growth: You have a lot of independence and room to learn/grown.

Cons

I should have known I was taking a risk leaving a job of full benefits for a job offering minimal pay and no benefits. But I wanted to grow, I wanted to offer my skills to a small company with values I aligned with. To put it bluntly, it wasn't worth it. There's 100% turnover and the owners do not care. Everyone is interchangeable. The owners do not care if you disagree with them. To put it in the words of one of the owners, "It's my company and I do what I want." FYI: There's no HR. So if you have a problem with the owners or anyone...you have to bring it up to the owners. I brought up issues with communication styles to one of the owners and was yelled at. This owner has harassed employees, even going far enough to challenge them. To say, and I quote, "If you have something to say, say it!" There's a superiority among the owners. Their employees could never be as educated or as "right" as they are. There's clearly some level of privilege at play - these are the type of people that have never heard "no". On top of all this, prepare to be overworked. You will be asked to do everything and more. I enjoy a challenge, it's why I took this job. Being a little overwhelmed helps me get things done. But this was exhausting and beyond fair for how little I was getting paid. A lot of our small team took time to reorganize the company. We believed in the company. But because of the owners being stretched thin and single-minded, our hard work was never rewarded. In my time there I watched so many people leave, upset and exhausted. It was mentally draining. Lastly, you are offered sick days and PTO. Which is great. But they act like no other company does this and to be honest, I have never worked at a company where this wasn't offered. Not to mention, at KOVAL, PTO is accrued so you really only get your vacation days at the end of the year. Oh, and they don't carry over. So you have to either hope to travel in November or December, or you're left with taking unpaid time off. Bonus: You have cameras on you at all times and at first we thought this was for our safety but we were informed later that they watch us from time-to-time to make sure we are getting our work done.

KOVAL Distillery Response

KOVAL has had a number of long-term employees (our first intern is our Vice President) and we have had many people who have been with us 2 or more years, and of course, some a year or less. KOVAL has a number of benefits. We have recently upgraded our health stipend to a group health plan. We now offer various health, dental, as well as other benefits options. The following benefits are standard for KOVAL: paid family leave, paternity, maternity, and bereavement. There is always coffee and tea in the office for employees and three paid lunches a week. There are often donuts, as well as treats from collaborations with other artisan companies we partner with on marketing. Some of our employees work remotely and we provide continuing education. Everyone is offered courses on distilling and the business of starting a distillery (value is $899), and upon approval, other forms of continuing education are available. Some examples of places where team members have taken classes are The Art Institute, Second City, and DePaul. Although our vacation days are accrued, three days carry over, and sick days are available immediately upon hire. With an office staff of roughly around 10 people, we do not believe that a full time HR person is merited. Capital for our rapidly growing company is best spent elsewhere, such as raises and bonuses for our team. As a licensed and bonded facility engaged in the production of alcohol, the federal government considers security, and cameras, an imperative.

1.0

5 Sept 2017

Disappointed with my experience at KOVAL

Communications coordinator

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

-Great product -Lots of potential -Office lunches 3 times a week

Cons

-No benefits - you are offered a stipend that barely covers a standard healthcare plan. -No HR - the owners expect you to talk to them about office problems or grievances, which doesn't work when your issues are with the owners or with one of their favorite employees. They take sides and don't actually deal with any issues. I cried after talking to one of the owners about a serious problem I was having in the office, and I asked her why we didn't have an HR person, because I felt she was taking sides, and she responded with, "Because having an HR team makes things less personal, and we want to deal with issues ourselves." -No company culture -Very low wages for the amount of work you're expected to do -No middle management and no guidance

KOVAL Distillery Response

KOVAL has a number of benefits. We have recently upgraded our health stipend to a group health plan. We now offer various health, dental, as well as other benefits options. The following benefits are standard for KOVAL: paid family leave, paternity, maternity, and bereavement. There is always coffee and tea in the office for employees and three paid lunches a week. There are also often donuts, as well as treats from collaborations with other artisan companies we partner with on marketing. Some of our employees work remotely and we offer continuing education. Everyone is offered courses on distilling and the business of starting a distillery (value is $899), and upon approval, other forms of continuing education are available. Some examples of places where team members have taken classes are The Art Institute, Second City, and DePaul. Although our vacation days are accrued, three days carry over, and sick days are available immediately upon hire. With an office staff of roughly around 10 people, we do not believe that a full time HR person is merited. Capital for our rapidly growing company is best spent elsewhere, such as raises and bonuses for our team. We are sorry that our business was not a good fit for you and we hope that you have found a more suitable employment and are happy in your situation.

1.0

8 May 2023

Terrible Owners Who Don't Respect The People Who Work For Them

Foh

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

For the people who do decide to stay on staff (everyone is constantly quitting) the people who are hired to work in FOH are generally nice and friendly, but soon people realize how terrible the owners are and they leave because they are tired of the unorganized systems in place (if there are any systems in place at all) and unrealistic expectations placed upon them during their shifts.

Cons

- Expected to do multiple jobs outside of your description without fair compensation for the extra work. - Owners lie about where profits are going ( I had access to analytical information, and when confronted about this, they lied) - No support or guidance if you need help - you're expected to figure it out on your own - Expected to work outside of your given schedule, and at times worked beyond 13hours without a break - No structure ANYWHERE within the company , and the structures that are in place in regards to communication, scheduling, reports are not user- friendly or facilitated by useful technology . The owner decided to teach themselves how to "code" so they force everyone to use the interface they created, even though it's not intuitive or completely functional. Its like being forced to participate in a 7th grader's bad science project, and there is absolutely no room for feedback or suggested changes. You will just get shut down. - Trauma bonding- I've never worked at any other place in my life where so many people are constantly talking about how frustrated they are with the owners, and how they are applying for other jobs because they can't wait to leave. Lets be real, the turnover rate in FOH is always a thing, but I've never seen anything like this place before. No one is happy there. This goes for FOH, reps, admin, and the distillery side. Everyone complains about the owners, their pay, and the unrealistic expectations. - No room for growth or incentive for higher compensation. They make millions of dollars and pay people poorly, but still expect people to stay and work hard. Clearly they are rich people who decided to do events and open a bar as a hobby. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING and offer NO support . - There is no HR department to help hire people. If you are a manager you will be expected to find your own employees, interview them, and train them YOURSELF. - No training documents. - They hire people who are inexperienced so they can pay them less money, so you keep getting new managers or staff every few months who start off excited, but then decide to leave once they see how it's going. I've lost so much respect for this brand and this company. - There needs to be more diversity and inclusivity. This goes from the staff who is hired to the programming they are offering to the public. - Owners are never around FOH, but they love to micro- manage about little things like "placement of bottles on display" or "alignment of rug by the couch" while ignoring more relevant requests or needs like staffing. The owners are completely disconnected with what is going on in FOH, but when you tell them they don't make any efforts to help you fix anything.