Reviews by job title

6 reviews
2.0
18 Oct 2017

A turn for the worse

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The company has trust in developers to get things done. As a small consulting shop, each developer is essentially platform lead on a project. So even if you are right out of school you will have the opportunity to be lead on a project, to learn and make mistakes.

Cons

The company is struggling financially and culturally. In the last 5 months, 40% of the engineering team has quit. This year the company cut health insurance benefits for everyone. They also dropped from 6% 401k matching to 4%. New hires are being given used (sometimes broken) MacBooks. The company is nickel​ and dime-ing every purchase. The culture of the company has also changed. The management implemented several initiatives to promote learning, sharing and open communication. However it isn't getting through to the employees. It is very hard to learn from the experience of anyone else in the company. There is very little knowledge sharing or mentoring. Each developer is siloed on their own project. People are left to review and merge their own code. The main focus is just getting work done as quickly as possible, without regard to quality or project health. Communication with clients is also failing. Some project leads are openly hostile with their clients.... who probably won't stay clients for long. Because everyone is working on their own project, management is unaware of how each project is progressing. Some projects are moving dreadfully slow with lots of problems, while others are moving very quickly with very few problems. To management they all look the same and all receive the same (lack of) attention.

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Stable Kernel Response
8y
We are very intentional about asking for feedback, so it's upsetting that we haven't heard these concerns voiced internally. It takes all of our voices and efforts to grow this company, and we suspect that the person who wrote this has since left s|k. Nonetheless, we've taken this feedback to heart and would like to respond to it and clear up some factual inaccuracies. * s|k is in no way struggling financially or culturally. In fact, we're proud to be #532 of Inc's Fastest Growing Companies in America, we're adding to our roster of clients and colleagues all the time, and our employee engagement score has been consistently in the top 10% of Officevibe's Benchmarking Scale (we use officevibe to anonymously survey our employees at least once a week to make sure we're aware of how we're doing). * While employees certainly choose to move on (and some have been asked to), our retention rate is far superior to the average in our industry. We are thrilled to regularly celebrate 2nd, 3rd and even 4th anniversaries within our four-year-old company. At no time have 40% of our developers quit. * We provide industry and small-business leading healthcare benefits to our employees, even at a time of great upset in the insurance industry (in fact, we subsidize 99.9% of the excellent medical, vision and dental insurance of our workers). We also contribute generously to their family plans. * There hasn't been any change in our 401K match. We continue to match at the 6% level. * We offer a stocked kitchen, an incredible location on the BeltLine, new equipment, standing desks, field trips, special events, generous perks, and more. We use our money wisely for the good of the company and those who work for it. * We have never knowingly provided anyone with a damaged computer. Most new hires receive a new computer on their first day. * Learning & Sharing are part of our core values as a company: we expect everyone to learn and share every day. Additionally, we have structured lunch and learns at least twice a month, unlimited 1:1 mentoring/coaching, constant healthy debates and collaboration, we cover the cost of an annual conference for each employee every year, and more. * While some of our projects have required only one engineer, such arrangements aren't the norm. Most engineers work on a project team with a project lead, other developers, a designer, and a project manager. * Our existing project management team and our project leaders ensure that our clients are engaged and satisfied. The management team keeps close tabs on project success and continues to add tools to our arsenal that allow us to monitor the health of every project. In fact, most of our clients have come back to us for additional work and have referred us to others. If you're reading this review and are interested in learning more about working with us, please reach out and get to know us for yourself.
2.0
11 Feb 2018

To be avoided

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Initially, Stable Kernel seemed like a great place that cares about their employees. Unfortunately, the bigger and greedier they got, the more these things changed. They seem to give younger, junior developers a chance too. Something that I consider a pro, given that everyone needs to start somewhere.

Cons

Stable Kernel likes to make promises in all directions from benefits to improvement in the daily work up to bonuses and reviews that will never happen. Initially all that sounds good, but with no oversight and an opaque management, they always fell short on their promises. It is no wonder that there is basically no professional project management after their initial project manager was let go early last year. Even when clients mention this fact and the company will promise to do better you might end up alone on a project for weeks to come. When projects turn out to be poisonous after months of them dragging their feet without delivering any presentable results, other parties are blamed and some managers might even go into the direct offense with the client trying to blame them. Any try from individuals to surface these issues will be directly used to tell you that you are wrong. Answers given to internal (anonymous) surveys, that could have helped to improve the situation, were instantly turned around and you've been proven wrong in a harsh and commanding manner. Even if it's factual things like certain people receiving twice the time off than everyone else. It shouldn't come as a surprise that they even pressured their employees to positively respond on a "best places to work" survey. A place to avoid at any given cost if you expected a supporting workplace.

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Stable Kernel Response
8y
While we suspect this review was left by the same employee who posted previously, we believe it’s important to address his feedback so that potential employees and clients who may be a great fit for stable|kernel can find us. Here’s what we have always held to be important: * Our company values: we practice integrity always; we respect ourselves and others; we stay hungry for ways to improve ourselves and our company; we remain curious and agile, and we ask for constant feedback as there is always something to learn and always something to teach. * It’s imperative that we are inspired by our clients, that we practice becoming better, and that we grow this company together. * We keep our promises. * Strong project management is invaluable to client success. We have grown a professional project management team that ensures we have smoothly run projects, clear communication, and delighted clients. * We believe supporting the individual learning paths of our employees is not only the right thing to do for them, but is also the best way to build this company. As our colleagues master skills and hone their craft, they become more valuable to our clients and our company. We compensate such growth accordingly. Our commitment to these things has been unwavering. If you’re interested in learning more about stable|kernel, we hope you'll reach out to us!
5.0
25 Apr 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great colleagues, nice benefits, management that listens. Many opportunities to develop your career down whatever path you find most interesting. Also, one of the only places I've ever worked where I like everyone I work with — they care a lot about maintaining a healthy and positive culture at work. Respectful of work/life balance, OT is rare.

Cons

Client projects haven't always the most fulfilling, but we're getting better and better work all the time.

5.0
30 Jan 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Ability to build meaningful professional relationships, a land full of acknowledgement and praise, engaged and respectful clients, feelings of empowerment daily, structured management, beautiful workspace, dog-friendly office, strong communication, realistic work/life balance

Cons

No cons at the moment!

1.0
4 Jan 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The company has good people in the individual contributor ranks and a nice office near the ATL Beltline, but the office is empty because there is a noticeable lack of emphasis placed on employee well-being, which has resulted in a concerning work environment that has an impact on morale and productivity.

Cons

Over the past two years, I have observed what I believe to be a lack of value placed on employees, diversity, and inclusion at Stable Kernel. These concerns are based on my experiences and observations during my time with the company, and I believe they warrant careful consideration and action. There appears to be a lack of commitment to diversity and inclusion within the company, as evidenced by the lack of diversity in both leadership and the workforce. Inclusive policies also appear to be mere words on paper. The departure of customers suggests potential issues in customer relationships. This could be indicative of broader concerns related to service quality, customer satisfaction, and other factors related to poor management.

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Glassdoor has 26 Stable Kernel reviews submitted anonymously by Stable Kernel employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Stable Kernel is right for you.