Promising on paper yet frustrating in practice - Anonymous employee Rise Baking Company Employee Review

2.0
13 Oct 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Market pay for the role, talented coworkers and supportive peers within my team, work from home policy (2 days per week), some effort is made for employee events, monthly lunches, occasional outings, attempts are made to keep the corporate office secure from threats in a questionable area of town.

Cons

My team suffers from serious leadership issues which extends up to much of the executive team. There's a general culture of distrust and micromanagement, particularly from management. My supervisor's supervisor regularly takes a direct hands-on approach to tasks and decisions for which my team is responsible, often bypassing my boss and my team entirely and without communicating the changes. Tasks are heavily dictated and not delegated, with little room for engineers' own expertise and input (which often outweighs his expertise). I've not been trained on most things that my role would typically cover. Instead, my supervisor's supervisor continues to do much of my role's day-to-day tasks, outsource tasks to third party vendors, or hire more bodies. Even with clear justification, requests for access to some of these things have been delayed or outright denied. Security drives most technical direction, often overriding traditional boundaries between such teams and without input from said teams' expertise. They are implementing big brother tools on the computers to monitor employees and ensure they are working. The company in general seems to have a money management problem. Leadership can't adhere to a budget and apparently routinely exceeds yearly capex limits. Initiatives important to the security of the company and its data have been placed on hold because we ran out of money. The company grew very rapidly in a very short amount of time which apparently thrust most of the executive team into a scary and unfamiliar new world. The workplace feels cold and silo'd. Everyone is disconnected, people (especially from other teams) don't greet in the halls and avoid it. Leadership is largely unapproachable, the CEO has to be reminded by his peers to talk to his subordinates. The company seems more focused on external image than internal culture. (i.e. They tried to go for "Top 100 Places to Work in Minnesota", I laughed. I've worked at a Minnesota Top 100 employer and Rise Baking Company has a LONG ways to go.)

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Rise Baking Company Response
7mo
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We genuinely appreciate your feedback and are grateful for your recognition of the market pay, talented coworkers, supportive peers, and the efforts made to foster connection through events and lunches. We’re also glad to hear the hybrid work policy and office security measures have been positive for you. That said, I’m truly disheartened to hear about your experience with leadership, communication, and culture. Your concerns about micromanagement, lack of delegation, and limited access to tools and training are concerning and not reflective of the environment we strive to create. We want our team members to feel empowered, trusted, and supported in their roles. I also want to acknowledge your comments about our financial management. While we’ve experienced rapid growth, I want to reassure you that we are in a healthy financial position and are actively working to improve planning and prioritization across the organization. Culture matters deeply to us, and it’s clear that your perception is we have work to do in fostering a more connected, inclusive, and approachable environment. Your feedback is a valuable part of that journey. If you’re open to it, I would welcome the opportunity to speak with you directly. Please feel free to reach out to me, as I’d appreciate the chance to better understand your experience and explore how we can improve. Abby Ludens EVP, HR

Explore other reviews about Rise Baking Company

5.0
13 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

nice managment and people to work

Cons

i like averything about this company

1.0
14 Jul 2025
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-a hand full of good people to work with on each team.

Cons

-upper management/executives don’t care about lower level nor does anyone get treated fair (whether it’s status, gender, etc) -high turn over for anyone not directly on or associated with the execs -no safe place to tell someone if you feel you’re being treated poorly -zero work life balance/understaffed -they rarely promote within even if you takeover a higher positions work load when they leave -will probably be 5 days in office before we know it so keep that in mind -extremely lacking in communication even when it directly impacts your job -they are constantly letting people go and calling it restructuring

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Rise Baking Company Response
7mo
Thank you for your honest feedback. I’m sorry to hear about your experience and it’s clear we have areas to improve. Everyone deserves to feel respected, supported, and fairly treated, and I’m disheartened by the concerns you’ve raised. We’re committed to maintaining our hybrid work model, improving communication, promoting from within, and creating a safe space for employees to speak up. While we continue to evolve and grow the business, we remain financially healthy and focused on long-term stability. If you’re open to a conversation, I’d welcome the chance to hear more. Please feel free to reach out directly. Abby Ludens EVP, HR
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