Brainshark Reviews

Pros

They are truly valuing their employees during COVID-19. Lots of support for both work and home-life matters. I cannot emphasize how incredible Brainshark has been while everything's been turned upside down this year. No one expected schools/daycares to shut down and suddenly balancing both work and kids at home. If I was working anywhere else I probably would have quit! From the CEO, down to my direct manager and all of my colleagues, the support has been incredible, speaking for myself, but I hope everyone else feels it too! Even though we are full-time remote, HR has been great about hosting fun virtual events, while also tackling more serious topics in present news.

Cons

In the past, career development was not super clear, but that's come a long way.

Pros

- People were great and generally cared about each other and the business - Senior management was visible within the office - Most customers were great to work with - Pay and benefits were in-line with similar roles and the industry - Support and Engineering were in-house which is a huge selling point to customers.

Cons

- Brainshark isn't a core product for Enterprise customers; some customers (and internal employees) weren't passionate about the product, which lead to lost renewals and a high percentage of the employees being checked out at times - On-boarding was dreadful. You receive a laptop and get to watch hours and hours of Brainshark content and expected to retain that knowledge from the start. For a company that markets helping companies do this one would expect better. - Some managers (mine included), could be often heard talking down (myself included) to employees on a continual basis. - Office politics were rampant amongst departments (were told not to worry about it, yet closed door secretive meetings were a regular occurrence) - Turnover was very high; I think I went to more company send offs then new hire orientations. They also had layoffs earlier in 2020 and then promoted members of the company they acquired a day later (which half of those people are no longer with the company). - The core product needs to be improved and simplified. They often were scrambling to do product releases and implement features for one or two customers, while leaving the items that needed to be addressed to the support team. - Career growth conversations only occurred with folks in sales. - Companies contract structure was very outdated; 1-2 year contracts at high prices often meant customers were always in negotiation conversations with the sales team which limited the opportunity to develop true partnerships.

Pros

It goes without saying that it's been a really tough year for everyone. In the middle of all of the craziness, it's been really amazing to be a Brainshark employee and feel a sense of stability and support at this time. I can imagine in the background, Greg and the executive team are doing everything they can to keep things running smoothly and grow the business, and keep a strong, professional, supportive face for the rest of the organization. WIth all of the changes to remote work, teams and personnel shifting and changing, I've never enjoyed my work more and been more energized and appreciative for my colleagues and all the hard work they are willing to put in even during a time when people are juggling challenges in their personal life. The company has been great about addressing serious topics and issues that have been highlighted this year as well.

Cons

Although we are seeing improvement in some areas of the company, there are a lot of people who are stuck in old habits and have a reluctance to change. This is holding us back from growing the company.

Pros

Company leadership legitimately wants Brainshark to be a great company to work for. The pressures of the market niche they're in and the constant issues keeping the flagship product competitive and functional are frequently an obstacle to that. There are some really smart, dedicated people here who were a pleasure to work with.

Cons

Company leadership in some departments clearly plays favorites, although there has been some recent turnover of C-level personnel that will probably help change that. Attracting new talent is difficult because the company is often reluctant to meet market rates for salary.

Pros

- Great work/life balance - Great people for the most part - Monthly events are a nice bonus

Cons

- No real opportunity for growth. Managers seem to get nervous and protective if you start to over deliver or don't stay in your lane. You should allow your employees to challenge themselves and take on new tasks. - Lack of career growth leads to high performers to leave within a year or so. Once there is no sign of true career progression, there's no real incentive to stay. - Leadership is not very transparent. They have "town halls" however there is no Q&A for employees to ask questions. There's no easy way to know how the company is performing -Certain employees are cliquey and judgey which leads to fractured teams. - A lot of these points I raised during my exit interview and the person from HR that I met with agreed (and had mentioned my critiques were similar to others). However, it doesn't seem like what they are reporting up is being noticed.

Pros

They are handling the pandemic really well, employees are not expected to go back to the office and they are exploring remaining 100 percent remote.

Cons

-Historically bad at training new employees - They don't pay very well - If you move laterally they don't pay you nearly as much as your worth - They choose managers who were top performers but throw them in roles they aren't prepared for. Just because you're a good individual performer doesn't mean you'll be a goor manager.