Pros
I was employed at Bisk Education for nearly 10 years, so I have seen the changes. The benefits and culture have changed for the positive over this time. Things like continuing education (which was once used as a retention tool “no way is this person going to leave now or they will owe us big money”), heath insurance (was a better deal years ago, when we did not get hit with the big deductible like it is now), 401k with match (for now), flexible work hours & work from home (IF you land in the right department & manager) are just some of the benefits that are better for sure.
Cons
The majority of the people are talented and passionate (at first until they are “Bisk-ified”) about what they do. They (not executive leadership) are the reason why the company has grown before the massive layoffs. A lot of people on here tend to dance around the problem and say “leadership” is the problem. Well, that word can take on so many different meanings. The real problem starts with the President of the company due to the lack of direction and decision making by him plain and simple. It then cascades down to the executive team that would not know strategy and execution if it smacked them in the face. The Chief Counsel is now Chief Strategy Officer. Really? How do you make that leap? Outside of a total intervention (which honestly maybe too late), I would highly suggest they read Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” & “Leaders Eat Last”. If you take one single question from Leaders Eat Last, “Did you create a culture that promotes a circle of trust, or did you create a culture that only values results?” you do not need to go any further on how miserably this team has failed. Quite honestly, how the president has failed. Hard to establish a circle of trust when the president of the company allows his wife (a self-proclaimed expert) to be put in a leadership/ownership position with no clear direction to the company. I doubt that even the executive team knows what the direction is, but they are way too scared to ask what her role is. Let’s not forget the “dream team” of customer experience experts that have come in and just go around asking “why”. No clear direction to the company on what their roles and responsibilities are, yet they come in and disrupt because that is what the president has read is the new trend on LinkedIn and in silicone valley . It could also be the hiring of consultants as full time employees as they leapfrog other talented and hardworking individuals that have been there for many years and have given their dedication to the company. Last but not least the dismissal of the entire creative team (30 people, yep changing people’s lives alright) due to “poor performance”. No direction given from above on what performance was, but fire them anyway. And this is just from the executive level, as we have not talked about the political playing, back stabbing, finger pointing, non-accountable, non-commutative toxic culture the Sr. leadership displays. Can’t blame them though, look who is mentoring them? Instead of coming on here (and other review sites) and posting fake positive reviews (you know the ones on here that get a few to none “helpful” votes), or creating a new brand (You Tube Called - They Like Their Play Button Back) and website to try to hide the issues, you should look at fixing the issues internally so that the employees are your advocates and post positive reviews that mean something. No worries though, I expect this post to get the generic reply from HR that “thanks me for my review and knows that change can be very difficult” response. Maybe this review does not get that? Does that mean what is being said is true? Honestly, the company should be very thankful that Tampa has a very small job market or many more people would leave on their own.
