3 Apr 2016
Varsity News Network Reviews
3.0
40% would recommend to a friend
33% positive business outlook
Varsity News Network has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 18 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there.
Reviews by job title
18 reviews
1.0
17 Mar 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
Flexible schedule and vacation policy. Talented people were recruited, but left. There's really not much else, except maybe free Le Croix (which they stopped buying after we ran out of money).
Cons
I've never seen such an unjust organization. They exploited their employees so that the CEO could get rich and build a "reputation" in a grand rapids as the "guy who made it." Egotistical and pathological liar are the best ways to describe him as a person - ruthless and horrific at leadership. He actually smiled when firing me. I would not recommend working here. This company could have been great, but they squandered the talent they had and the opportunity at hand to chance spur of the moment ideas the CEO would have depending on which coffee date he had that morning or which blog he read. Sadly, this filtered down to the company culture at large which is more toxic than I've ever seen before. These people have no idea what they're doing or how to create a company that wins and grows, which is ironic, considering the CEO would justify his demand to "MOVE FASTER" by saying we're "in it to win it."
Varsity News Network Response
9yThank you for taking the time to leave your feedback here. Transparent feedback of all kinds helps us grow as a company, so I appreciate it and we will definitely take it into account.
It's important to me that VNN be a place where people are valued, are recognized for doing great work, and have the opportunity to grow personally and professionally, and I’m disappointed that your experience didn’t live up to that.
I will admit that we’ve made mistakes in building that ideal culture. As we've grown (nearly 10x in the past 3+ years) it's become more difficult to maintain the kind of tight alignment and transparency of information that came to us so easily as a smaller organization, and I know that relationships have been harder to build as a result. Those relationships (and transparent communication in general) are important at any size, which is why the senior leadership team has collaborated to put in place a comprehensive mission/vision/values document to serve as an anchor for all our activities. It’s also why we’ve put in place quarterly all-hands reviews (including financial performance), as well as individual 1on1s with all employees, to ensure issues like yours don’t go unaddressed in the future. All that being said, communication at scale is a big challenge, and one of my top priorities.
I am really sorry that your experience in leaving VNN was poor as well. Terminating an employee is something I and we take very seriously, is never a surprise to the employee, and is only ever done as a last resort. Before we even consider that option, we first have many, many conversations with the employee about what needs changing, and give them the opportunity to make those changes. Only when all other efforts have failed do we consider parting ways with an employee.
Thank you for the feedback, and while certainly your experience is not in any way what we strive to achieve for our team, I appreciate you sharing it so we can improve.
Ryan
2.0
3 Oct 2018
Solid Environment, Poor Compensation, Mixed Bag
Former employee, less than 1 year
Grand Rapids, MI
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook
Pros
Coworkers -- at least those in the office -- were all typically very nice and friendly, with good senses of humor and an attitude of teamwork. Environment is laid-back/casual including dress code and presentation. Flexible about taking time off or working remote as long as you cover your work.
Cons
Pay was abysmal. In my role we were getting paid $11 an hour to do support, the position that also had to take the most heat from customers and thus, one of the more stressful jobs. At the same time they required us to have a bachelor's degree, so all of us were paying off expensive student loans. When we asked for our role to collectively get a pay increase, as we were all unable to keep up with monthly expenses on our minimal paycheck, they shrugged us off as a group and instead turned us all down individually, insisting we work our time underpaid before eventually reaching a more acceptable pay level after a year or two of exceptional work. When we stated that our loans and expenses were so high that our current positions were not a sustainable lifestyle, the management replied by saying "I don't care that you have loans to pay -- what about giving you a raise will help the company?" And without enough of an epiphany to give them in response, we remained underpaid. While I can acknowledge the truth in this statement, it showed a particular disconnect between management (in this case, the CEO) and his employees and their needs. Additionally, PTO was not offered to me or anyone else in my position. This made taking time away to relax/recuperate from the stress of the job difficult because you knew your next paycheck would be even smaller than normal. Despite being a crucial part of the company, it also felt like support was looked down upon by other people in the organization, especially the employees across the country. This may have been because we were relatively new to the organization -- a result of the low pay meaning that everyone in the position would either leave or move to a different, higher-paying position within the company before too long.
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