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Windward Studios

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Look elsewhere - Anonymous employee Windward Studios Employee Review

2.0
24 Aug 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Location & it can be interesting work

Cons

The company has the reputation of a revolving door for a reason. Lots of turnover. E.g. one department had 4 different heads in 5 years. Competent folks are fired, across all departments, on a regular basis.

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Windward Studios Response
7y
This post brings up two legitimate issues. First, a number of managers here have been fired. I can't speak to why as this is a personnel issue. But the ultimate responsibility for that is mine as I'm the CEO. If someone was the wrong person, I'm the one that hired them. If someone was the right person and I didn't see it, that is also on me (although obviously I don't agree with that opinion). As to hiring someone else as CEO, we have looked at this in depth three times, the most recent being when we had to do the layoffs. There almost certainly is someone who could run it better than me. But the conclusion of all involved in the review was that finding someone that could do better than me was going to be very difficult. In addition an interesting thing that came out of the discussion the second and third time was someone else would almost certainly have instituted the lay-offs 2 years ago. That would have probably been better for the company, but you would have had the same situation we now have - people who did a good job being let go because the company needs to change its areas of emphasis. And yes I love software development. But I also love being a CEO. CEO is a much more challenging job that requires a much broader skill set and strategic decision making. The downside of it is it's like being a major league baseball player - being right 1/3 of the time is as good as it gets. That 2/3 wrong sucks. In conclusion, thank you for your review. It was negative but everything said in it was legit & truthful. I appreciate that.

Explore other reviews about Windward Studios

5.0
20 May 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Employees are eager to welcome you and help you get started -The work can be challenging, not dull nor menial. Makes your work feel meaningful -Generous pay compared to similar opportunities in the area -Very intelligent developers -Outstanding management of COVID-19 Crisis, they quickly changed and adapted practices to accommodate the crisis so onboarding, and development cycles were uninterrupted

Cons

-The documentation and software can be dense, especially since a lot of it was made a while ago. It can make the learning take longer, but things are getting updated constantle, and co-workers are patient and helpful.

5.0
22 Mar 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Flexible working environment -Have increased focus on employee satisfaction -Broad base of responsibilities available -Focus on recruiting and promoting internally rather than external hiring -Everyone that works there currently is extremely kind and willing to help other departments if needed -Collaborative work environment I have worked at Windward for multiple years. Through that time Windward has always offered a very flexible work environment with unlimited PTO and flexible hours. The focus on work/life balance is very much there and is something i have always appreciated. The company is small/mid sized and has given me the opportunity to gain a wide variety of work experience that i dont believe i would see at a larger company. I have also seen Windward offer promotions to employees rather than look for an outside hire so the ability to advance your career is there as well. The culture is really great as everyone is super nice and have no issues helping each other out. There are free lunches every week and a kitchen regularly stocked full of food. We have also started having monthly staff activities such as going bowling etc.

Cons

There were layoffs last year which was a sad time as a lot of really great people had to leave. The owners were very transparent regarding the reasoning though in that it wasn't a reflection of the quality of employees at Windward but a strategic change to prevent any future issues and in retrospect it seems like it was the right move. The company has come out of it in a lot stronger position however it was definitely hard losing some great people.

avatar
Windward Studios Response
7y
Thank you for the very nice words. I agree, it sucked to have to let people go. People who were doing a good job. But it unfortunately was necessary.
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