1 Sept 2015
Anonymous employee
2313 Response
10yHi there!
Ken here! As our HR team had previously responded, I appreciate your feedback as well. I haven't directly been involved with Glassdoor until recently, so please pardon my very belated reply. It's been a while since you wrote this review, but I wanted to personally respond to you nevertheless. I appreciate your approval of our fun atmosphere and you are 100% accurate that hitting sales goals sets the stage for awesome advancement opportunities.
I think that you raised a lot of interesting points in this review, and I’d like to address a few of them here.
Firstly, you are correct about the sales element of the entry level, and you are also correct that we do offer a salary option to all of our employees. You’re also accurate in that practicing sales presentations is part of the training for all of our account managers. It is also still the case that territory management and preparation for the day/week are necessary activities for anyone to succeed in their roles. It is also true that repeated tardiness is not tolerated. This is definitely useful information for anyone reading this, so thank you for sharing these expectations.
Though you were only here for one month, I hope that you benefitted from the opportunity to learn about sales. Most businesspeople will tell you how essential it is to understand how to drive revenue. With that said, very few people start a career because they love its entry level responsibilities. I can understand and respect that the entry level element of the position was not up your alley. It's certainly not for everyone. As you know, though, the larger scope of your position was to advance into a management role rather quickly. I really value leadership by example, and I think it’s extremely important for all of our managers to have had first-hand experience doing the work of the people they coach.
I know this review goes back a couple of years now, but I can’t wrap my brain around how it’s possible that 3 weeks went by without you receiving training. While this is truly hard for me to believe, I completely appreciate that a person’s perception is his/her reality and if you felt this way, I really want to apologize to you if I or my company dropped the ball. Our ability to effectively train new employees is actually one of the things that I am most proud of about my company, so perhaps if you saw us now you’d be impressed.
The most interesting part of your review is where you question the idea that hard work yields results. I know that not everyone views the world through the same lens that I do, but to me, the two are inextricably linked. Of course, hard work isn’t the only ingredient in becoming successful, but I think it’s got to be up there in the top three.
Do I think that ‘anyone’ can be successful in our management training program? No. I totally agree with you that it’s not for everyone. Do I think that anyone who makes it through our interview process (and is hired) has the potential to have a thriving career in our business? YES. But, with that said, there is nothing automatic about becoming successful here — or anywhere else for that matter.
The last part of your review that I think it’s important to address is where you felt that you had to ‘treat people in ways you’re not necessarily comfortable’ with. I value integrity above all else, and I wholeheartedly believe that a person should never have to compromise his/her morals to be successful. The way I see it, truth doesn’t have a gray area, and treating others with respect should never be optional.
To wrap up this long response, I want to thank you for taking the time to not only share your feedback but to spend a month with our company. I wish we had provided a more positive experience here for you.
I’m sure by now you've found a position that is better suited to you and I truly hope that you are happy and doing well! I’ve always thought that a relationship doesn’t have to be permanent to be successful — and I hope that you at least learned a couple of good skills that you were able to take with you to your current role.
Best regards,
Ken/CEO